


these shadows you left behind

by bixxelated



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Ultimate Talents (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Dark Fantasy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Character Death, Rating May Change, Supernatural Elements, Unreliable Narrator, survival horror but not like outright gore or anything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-01-24 09:03:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 38,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21335686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bixxelated/pseuds/bixxelated
Summary: don't blink or you'll miss it. don't move or they'll see you. pay attention, and we may yet get out of this alive.OR16 kids wake up amidst mysterious castle ruins with no explanation as to how they got there. they quickly realize something foul's lurking beneath the rotting structures, and scramble to escape before death sinks its fangs into them.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Amami Rantaro & Saihara Shuichi, Akamatsu Kaede & Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 34
Kudos: 44





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to the beginning of shadows! this is an idea that just latched onto my brain as the spooky season settled in and wouldn't let go, so after weeks and weeks of working on it I am excited to finally start publishing! i'd hoped to be able to start posting this before halloween ended but oh well! its not like the genre is limited to a certain time of the year anyway
> 
> a few notes:
> 
>   * gonta doesn't have the tarzan dialect the official translation gave him. it doesn't really make sense for his backstory in this au and adds nothing to his character so he doesn't speak like that. he _does_ refer to himself by name instead of using 'I' pronouns like in canon tho, as do tenko and angie
>   * shinguuji's backstory **_does not include incest_** in this fic. it's a poorly written plot twist in my opinion, and i am neither informed enough on the subject to handle it as delicately as it needs to nor do i want to be. we'll be delving into it a little in the actual story but to sum it up, he does have an older sister he was close to but their relationship was _purely_ platonic and familial
>   * there are some things that im still deliberating over, so the rating may or may not change to M in the future, for some violence and the occasional horror stuff. no sexual horror or scenes though, this is a gen fic
> 
>   
and thats all for now! there might be additional warnings that come with each chapter so make sure to check those out! Hope you enjoy the ride as much as I enjoy writing it x)

It was only by a miracle that she managed to catch sound of two people walking nearby the rusty old locker she was stuck in. 

Although completely exhausted after spending so long fruitlessly calling for help in such a tiny, cramped space, the hope it gave her breathed life back into her weary body. She couldn't let the opportunity pass, and so reignited her efforts. She yelled her soul out, banging on the metal restlessly until she thought her throat would give out and her hand would burst open from the pain.

But it was enough. She was heard, and the two people managed to get her out of there, finally.

“You okay there?”

“Yes, thank you. Thank you so much,” She gasped once she was free, trying to make the burning in her lungs go down. “I don’t know what I would have done if I was left there by myself.” She’d been just short of working herself into a panic. It was enough to make anyone grow claustrophobic.

“Hey, it’s no problem,” The taller guy said amicably. “We’re glad to help.” He was incredibly pretty, she noted, with wavy green hair, sleepy eyes, pierced ears and an easy-going smile; handsome enough to be on par with a model despite being absolutely caked in mud, though she doubted that part of his look had been in any way intentional.

The other guy, a lot cleaner than his companion, preferred to avert his eyes from her gaze—not that it was hard under that hat—and look over the locker she had come out of instead. Still, despite his shyness, he spoke up. “You’re lucky the bolt was rusted enough to break easily.” He turned vaguely in her direction, although he still didn’t look her in the face. “I don’t think we’ll find any sort of working power tools in this kind of place.”

She didn’t doubt that. All around the room was nothing but rotten wood, stale air and overgrown wild plants sprouting from every nook and cranny, nearly blotting out all the light from the nearby window—she would bet good money that no one had set foot in the room in quite a while. Years even. Was the whole building like this? “Where are we?”

“Your guess is as good as ours,” Greenie said. “Neither of us recognize this place. We both woke up on our own a while ago with no clue as to how we got here and ran into each other while we were exploring. That’s about all we know. I don’t think we’d covered even a quarter of it before we heard you; this place is so big.”

“It looks like it might’ve been some sort of old fortress a long time ago,” Hat Guy added thoughtfully. “Like some sort of castle, maybe?”

That threw her for a loop. “A castle?” She repeated.

“A really old one.” Greenie said. “Come and see for yourself.”

And so they led her out of the room, and she felt her breath disappear at the sight of her surroundings. The ruins were huge—they were at the floor level of what looked like an octagonal-sided tower, with the main hall stretching up and beyond the balconies of each floor that looked down at them. It was easy to see that the building was way past it’s prime, almost ethereal in the way it was overtaken by plant life, dark and dank except for where rotting wood let the outside light filter through. Right on the wall facing the entrance was the biggest hole of all; so caved in on itself that she could see directly to the outside—an endless forest, old and wild and standing as far as the eye could see, with trees so tall they almost blotted out the light. She thought she could make out smaller buildings in the distance, just as broken down as the one they were standing in.

The grandeur of it all made a chill run down her spine. It was beautiful and eerie all at once.

And more than that, it felt somewhat familiar. Like a place she’d only read about, but had never personally been to.

“Watch your step.”

Startled, she looked down at her feet and realized she was dangerously close to stepping through a decayed hole on the floor. She took a few steps back and looked up to the other two.

“Gotta be mindful of where you stand,” Greenie told her with a wry smile. “The place is pretty much falling apart. Step on the wrong floorboard and it might collapse underneath you. We’ve already had some close calls.”

“The ceilings are really unstable too. Some of them look like they’re seconds away from giving in, so be careful.” Hat Guy added.

“Yeah, it’s not the safest building to be in.”

She thrummed her fingers against her thigh. “I don’t—I don’t understand. No matter how you look at it, this doesn’t make any sense. The last thing I remember I was checking into a hotel for a recital I was going to play at—nowhere near any sort of forest! So then how…?”

“How did we end up here?” Greenie finished for her. “I wish I knew. This place is basically in the middle of nowhere—but I was at a coastal town before this and I know the island well enough to know there isn’t anything like this place around there. The plants and soil are completely different. Whatever this place is, it’s far from anywhere I know.”

“It’s the same for me,” Hat Guy said softly. “I don’t remember leaving my home for anything specific, and I live in an apartment in the heart of the metropolis. It would take hours by train to get to a forest like this. I’ve never even left the city before.”

She shuffled in place. “Maybe… maybe we were kidnapped?”

“It’s the best theory I can think of…” Hat Guy acknowledged. “But…”

“It’s just as full of holes as any other explanation.” Greenie finished. “Where are our kidnappers, for one? Why let us wander around unmonitored after going to the trouble to bring us to a place like this? Not to mention all the weird places we each woke up in.”

“Weird places?” She asked.

“Well, you were in that locker. I woke up at the bottom of a well.” He chuckled. It explained why he was so dirty, at least. “Luckily the water was only ankle deep, but it was no easy feat climbing out when my hands were slick with mud, lemme tell you.” He turned to Hat Guy. “I’m guessing it was the same for you?”

Hat Guy’s face brightened with a flush. “I woke up inside of a toilet stall. Had my face leaning right on the edge of the rim.”

They both cringed at the imagery.

“Yeah that’s pretty nasty. Sucks to be you dude,” Greenie said. “But it proves my point. If we were kidnapped, we should’ve been tied up in a place we couldn’t escape from, but the places we woke up in were pretty easy to break out of, mostly. And it’d be simpler to keep an eye on us if we were all together from the start, but we were all in separate places. It’s lucky that we even managed to find each other, this place is big enough that it’d be easy to miss one another entirely.”

“Or…” Hat Guy realized. “Or anyone else that might be here. Maybe even our kidnappers, if they’re around.”

The three of them paused, digesting that thought. She swallowed thickly.

Greenie placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Let’s not get worked up over maybes right now, alright? This is all just baseless speculation at this point, it won’t do to panic and lose our heads. We’ll stick together for safety, just in case.” 

Hat Guy nodded in agreement.

She took a shaky breath. He was right. He was completely right. She couldn’t get hysterical right now; she couldn’t afford to. Not in such a potentially dangerous building like this one, in more ways than one. She just wished she could stave off the panic better like her companions did. Even Hat Guy was more composed than her, for all his shyness.

She took another, steadier breath and smiled, a bit wobbly. “…I don’t think I introduced myself earlier. I’m Akamatsu Kaede.”

Greenie softened at that. “Name’s Amami Rantaro.”

Hat Guy smiled too, small but genuine. “Saihara Shuichi.”

“Well Amami-kun and Saihara-kun. It’s nice to meet you, despite the circumstances.” She shook the rest of her nerves off. “It’s not an ideal situation… but I’m glad I’m not alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on my tumblr @ [bixxelated](https://bixxelated.tumblr.com/) if you wanna talk to me about my fic or danganronpa in general =) Feel free to comment and tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their search for answers only yields more questions. An invǐ̸̧t̸̝͋a̶̮͒tion is extended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> terminology:
> 
>   * donjon - aka tenshu, or tenshukaku. known as the highest and most defended tower of a castle
>   * yagura - turrets, aka guardtowers and storehouses along the castle walls
>   * shoji - wooden sliding doors

The mystery just went on and on it seemed.

It quickly became obvious to Kaede and the other two that the ruins they were in wasn’t just a single tower. Rather, there was more to it than the (enormous, mysterious) _donjon_ they’d woken up in. Once upon a time this would have been a whole castle town, a looming fortress that occupied most of the hill they stood on, surrounded by a man-built moat and forest on all sides, from what she could tell.

The entrance opened to an enormous courtyard, surrounded by other buildings on all sides, fenced in by run-down walls and old gateways that were half collapsed in on themselves, wild trees and bushes sprouting everywhere like the forest was trying to take back the hill from human influence. Further on, the climb down divided into sectioned wings of the fortress that wound around the hill and were filled with old residences and _yagura_. The way it was overrun by plants made them seem more like feral gardens than anything else, with old, unkempt ponds and fountains and occasionally wells. It would’ve been a beautiful place to be in, once upon a time. Probably well-fortified too, from what little she knew of castles.

Beyond the bottom and final gate was a trail—one that crossed over a dry moat—that led them down the hill to the heart of the town itself. It was all in the same state of abandonment, deteriorating more the further down they went until there was nothing left but stones and wooden beams to suggest where houses might have stood once, and the path disappeared into the open forest.

Looking around, there was a certain charm to the ghost town that Kaede could certainly understand. It looked almost picturesque, like looking at old urbex photographs on the internet, but it was broken by the creeping stillness found everywhere, like the ruins were all collectively holding their breath. Pixels on a screen couldn’t hold a candle to the uncanny atmosphere it made in real life. 

If she had to pick a song to describe it… [perhaps something melancholic. A tune that was low and somber, but not enough to be actually intimidating. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0BY9MvU9DA)Her fingers twitched at the thought, melodies running through her head, and for a moment the desire to play piano rose in her like a craving.

_Ah, now is not the time to think about those things, you idiot!_ _It’s not like you’ll find a piano around these parts anyway._ She shook that want out of her head and ran ahead to where Amami and Saihara were investigating what seemed to be an old forge.

“Any luck?” She asked, carefully stepping over the old door frame. The inside was as run down as the rest of the place, although far more cluttered with random knick-knacks and items. She quirked a smile at a small yellow flower that poked out of the vines wrapping around the wooden beams, greeting her at eye level.

“Depends on what you think is lucky.” Amami-kun told her. He shifted, and the sound of metal rang out as he did. “Take a look.”

Her breath caught when she realized he held a collection of swords in his arms, all different sizes and shapes, some so rusted that they’d broken in half.

“Swords?” Saihara-kun asked beside her.

“They might be useful to keep around.” Amami-kun told them. “I like to carry a pocket knife with me whenever I’m out exploring the wilds and you’d be surprised how often they come in handy. To cut down stuff, to hunt… to use for protection, just in case.”

“That seems really dangerous.” Saihara-kun wrinkled his nose at the thought. Kaede nodded along.

“I know it’s not ideal, but it’d bring me a lot of peace of mind if we had something to defend ourselves with.” He explained. “I doubt we’ll actually use them except maybe if there’s any wild animals roaming around here.”

Kaede swallowed. “If you say so then I’m… okay with it? But we have to be really careful with them. They’re not toys to swing around.”

“Not to mention we can’t afford to have anyone hurting themselves with them. Not here.” Saihara-kun added.

“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Amami-kun agreed. “So long as we all understand that—here.” He held out two broken swords. Kaede delicately wrapped her fingers around one of the handles; it was short enough that it felt more like holding a knife, albeit somewhat heavier and weirdly balanced.

“I’d really rather not.” Saihara-kun hesitated.

“You should.” Amami-kun insisted. “If an emergency happens I might not be able to hand you a sword in time.”

He bit his lip. “I don’t know if I’m the most reliable person to handle one of these… but alright.”

They managed to find some (old and cracked) scabbards for the swords, although Kaede wasn’t sure how well they’d hold them safely. They’d have to keep an eye out and make sure they didn’t slip out suddenly with any rough movements. Amami-kun tasked himself with bringing along some of the stronger, unbroken swords; for backup when the others broke, he explained. 

“You really seem to know a lot about this stuff, Amami-kun.” Saihara pointed out, as they left the forge to continue exploring.

“Ah, you think so?” Amami-kun said humbly. “I don’t really—my father and uncles are super into sword relics so I guess I just picked some stuff up.”

“I don’t just mean swords. You seem to know your way around nature as well.”

“Oh that.” He brightened. “Yeah I’m really into that sort of stuff. Traveling, camping, sailing, hiking—My family would take us on trips all over the country since I was young, and I guess I really took to it because I’ve been keeping it up as often as I could ever since. I even started dabbling into a bit of wilderness survival training though,” He scratched his cheek sheepishly. “I’ll admit I didn’t ever think I would wind up having to use that knowledge in an emergency like this.”

“That is so badass though!” Kaede clasped her hands in wonder. “It sounds like such a cool lifestyle. You must have seen so many amazing places by now, met so many interesting people...”

“I have,” He smiled in remembrance. “But it’s not quite as romantic as you’re thinking. There’s a lot of mundanity involved to it. And so much dirt too.”

“Still, it sounds like it would be so much fun to try. I don’t really do anything noteworthy besides play the piano. It’s my biggest passion, don’t get me wrong, but it’d be nice to expand my horizons a bit, be something beyond just a piano freak, you know?”

“Aw, c’mon, don’t call yourself that. Piano playing is such an incredible skill. You have to be amazingly dexterous to hit all those keys well, and I’ve always admired people who can just pour their heart into their music. It’s not something that’s ever come easy to me.” Amami-kun told her.

“I’m sure you’d do really well with some instruction and practice.” Though Kaede couldn’t help the pleased flush that his encouragement gave her. “What about you, Saihara-kun? Do you have any hobbies?”

Saihara-kun startled out of his thoughts. “Um, I don’t really do much, since I work part-time at my Uncle’s agency. But I like to read in my spare time.”

“Oh? What type of genre?”

“Well… crime mysteries and…” He shrunk into himself. “Suspense… supernatural stories too.”

A beat, as they considered where they were. 

Kaede shot him a wry smile. “This sort of scenario must be unbearably interesting to you.”

Saihara-kun averted his gaze, ears reddening. “I-it’s not boring, at least.”

“It’ll definitely come in handy.” Amami-kun said. “It’s like we got our own private detective along with us. We’ll be counting on you to help us solve this little mystery of ours.”

Something in Saihara’s expression shifted, a little brighter, a little more preening. “I’ll try my best.”

They kept looking through the buildings hoping to find more useful things, but there wasn’t much to dig up. There didn’t seem to be any modern items anywhere in sight. Any blankets or fabric were moldy and moth-bitten. All lamps were broken, and they lacked the oil to light them anyways. Any maps or scrolls were faded to the point of illegibility. There were a few squishy horrors that could have been said to be food once, but they wouldn’t dare touch them let alone eat them. 

It didn’t bode well for their chances of survival.

As they searched around an old house Amami must have seen the worry building on Kaede’s face, because he walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

She bit her lip. “I’m having a hard time believing that. …What if no one comes to rescue us?”

“Hey now, don’t go making assumptions like that. We’ve all got people who would miss us. And I’m sure they’re doing our best to find us. We just need to be patient about it.”

“The question is if we can afford to. We’re in the middle of nowhere, we don’t have any equipment with us, I’m wearing a skirt in the woods, for crying out loud. I…” She paused. “I…” Wait. What was that?

“I know it’s hard Akamatsu-san, but it won’t do to get depressed about our situation—”

“No, hold on, wait.” She shushed him. “Do you hear that?”

They both stilled. Somewhere in the distance, Kaede thought she could hear voices. Something vague… but high-pitched enough to be female. She shared a look with Amami-kun.

As if on cue, Saihara-kun came rushing into the room. “There’s people out there!”

The three of them took off outside, only pausing for a second to pinpoint the direction of the voices before running off in that direction, sprinting through overgrown weeds and bushes. A bubble of hope well up in Kaede’s chest. She felt lightheaded in a way that was totally unrelated to the exercise. Other people! They could escape, they could get out of there—

“—Akamatsu-san, wait, we shouldn’t—”

She barely even heard Amami’s warnings. She rushed ahead, swerving through street after old street—

Until something big and sturdy suddenly appeared before her. She yelped, unable to break in time and grunted as the impact threw her back onto the ground.

“Akamatsu-san!”

Rubbing her nose, she looked up—

And saw a monster looming over her, obscured by the sun, red eyes glaring down at her.

Kaede screamed.

The monster reached down to grab at her and she scrambled backwards desperately—

_“What do you think you’re doing, you bumbling degenerate!?” _

A small figure lunged out of seemingly nowhere, drop kicking the monster before her with such strength and precision that it was knocked off balance. It stumbled away, and the figure landed on their feet lithe as a cat, taking a protective stance in front of Kaede. She couldn’t help but gape at how effortlessly they’d beaten back the monster.

The figure turned around, and at a closer look, she realized it was a girl, probably around her age, but taller and stockier than herself, with casual light clothes that contrasted against her old-fashioned socks and geta. Her eyes were a vivid green, and her hair, a deep brown, was gathered in long braids that trailed around her like banners, with a pinwheel bow ribbon pinned to the back of her head. She was, Kaede noted, incredibly cute. She even had an adorable little mole beneath the corner of her mouth.

Behind her two more people approached, one of them a… child? In a leather jacket and cat-themed beanie. The other a very tall, slender, androgynous person, with an aura as mysterious as their surroundings, observing everything calmly behind their medical mask.

“Are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself did you?” The young woman asked kindly as she helped Kaede up. And then she turned to where the monster had fallen and growled, “What the hell were you thinking, startling her like that? Who taught you to treat girls that way!”

The creature sat up, and what she thought was a monster turned out to be just a really big guy, broad enough to have mountains for shoulders and wild green hair he somehow managed to tame into a complicated, cascading braid. 

“Gonta is so sorry!” The man got to his feet, bowing repeatedly in apology. The _young man _from the sound of it, oh geez. “Gonta just wanted to make sure you were alright and help you off the floor! Gonta completely forgot that he can come off as very intimidating to people who don’t know him!”

Kaede’s face heated up in embarrassment. “A-ah, no, I’m sorry too. I really jumped to conclusions there…”

“What rational person wouldn’t, when faced with a towering behemoth out of nowhere?” Medical Mask said neutrally. “No offense, Gokuhara.”

“And you!” Cute Sporty Girl whirled around to where Amami and Saihara had caught up. “What kind of companions are you, leaving your friend behind like that? You’re lucky that Tenko was here to help, what if she had been in real danger?”

Saihara-kun was too busy gasping for breath to argue the point that _Kaede _had been the one to leave them behind instead. Amami-kun, to his credit, didn’t even bat an eye at her accusations. “We would have acted accordingly if she was in trouble,” he said, slightly unsheathing one of the swords to prove his point. “But it seemed like you had everything under control.”

“Hmph! Well of course! You can’t rely on degenerate males for anything these days so the responsibility naturally falls to me. Don’t be afraid to depend on me if you need anything.” She beamed at Kaede. 

The thrum of her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Finally, finally, finally.

“Thank you so much…?” Kaede said. 

“Chabashira Tenko.”

“Chabashira-san.” She sighed in relief. “I’m Akamatsu Kaede. I’m so glad you managed to find us, I was getting so worried!”

Chabashira paused. “Huh?”

“It’s such a relief to know that this will all be over soon.” She looked over at all of them. “Is this the whole rescue team then? Oh, I’m sorry, that’s not to say you look incompetent or anything! I’m sure you’re all very capable…” She trailed off at the looks on their faces. “…Aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid we’re all just regular high-schoolers here, just as you are.” Medical Mask said neutrally.

“High-schoolers? _You’re _teenagers?” Kaede sputtered, staring wide-eyed at the giant and pipsqueak.

“Sorry to disappoint, Girly,” The tiny guy said, and Kaede was startled to hear the deepest bass range she’d ever heard in a human voice come out of his mouth. Great Beethoven’s hairy ba— “But we’re no more a rescue team than your gang is. We’re all stranded here.”

Oh. She deflated. That admittedly made more sense. 

That made seven of them then. Seven people who had been brought to this strange place for mysterious reasons…

Their story was much the same as their own group. They—Hoshi Ryouma, Shinguuji Korekiyo, Gokuhara Gonta, and of course, Chabashira-san—all woke up individually, without any supplies or cellphones or knowledge of how they’d gotten there, and found each other later on as they investigated. The only significant difference was that where Saihara, Amami and Kaede had woken up at the top of the hill inside the castle itself, they had woken at the bottom of the hill, amidst the ghost town they’d been scrounging around.

“We haven’t found much, as you yourselves have already realized.” Shinguuji-kun murmured beneath his medical mask. “A few pots and blankets, but any other materials were either broken or withered away long ago.”

That was… kind of disheartening. But there was no reason to lose hope yet! “Then I guess we should probably start walking, huh? Maybe there’s a town nearby where we could find some help.” Kaede suggested. 

The four exchanged a glance with each other. An uneasy weight sunk to her stomach. “What?”

“We’ve tried that already.” Gokuhara-kun, or Gonta, as he’d asked them all to call him, explained somberly. “But…”

“But?” Saihara-kun asked.

“It's... hard to explain. We're close by anyway, probably best if you see for yourself.” Ryouma-kun continued.

And so they led them all towards past the outskirts of town. 

Kaede wasn’t sure what to expect as they hiked through the forest. She wasn’t really much of an outdoorsy person, but the scenery was almost enough to make her change her mind. Thick green foliage grew unrestrained from dark, fertile soil everywhere. The trees were taller than any she’d ever seen in her life, stretching so high above them that she couldn’t make out the tops at all. It was almost peaceful enough to make her forget all about the problems they were facing.

But then she caught sight of what the others had been talking about, and all those worries flooded back like a rush of icy water. 

Amami-kun hissed out a curse at the sight, and Saihara-kun’s mouthed thinned at he looked it over. She very much agreed with their sentiments, but felt far too numb with shock to react appropriately.

Cutting through the forest was a large stone wall that stretched on to parts unknown, looming so tall that it made Gonta-kun seem small in comparison. It looked old and intimidating, but not all of it had to do with the size of the wall either—there was something about the various wards plastered all along its length and the old unrecognizable kanji painted beneath them that made the hairs on her arms stand on edge.

Most disturbing however, was the oily black growth that bubbled and boiled down from the top of the wall, dissolving with a hiss as portions of it hit the ground, ruining the soil and killing any nearby plants. It looked like some sort of giant fungus, but she could say with complete certainty that there was nothing natural about it; There was an aura around it that, dare she say it, seemed almost _alive_, writhing and humming with a barely-contained power. Kaede couldn’t tear her gaze away from it even when the awful stench made her eyes water. Every instinct inside her screamed at her not to turn her back to it.

It… it felt like rather than keeping them all from escaping, the wall was keeping the growth _out_. It made her stomach sink with dread, not just the thought of what would happen if a living creature were to touch it, but also the implications that, unless they managed to figure out a way past it, they were all trapped inside the ruins.

* * *

“…ell...o...?”

…

Nothingness.

The feeling of static. Low hissing.

_“...ease…I…eg…” _

“…ey!...ake..up…”

“…sh...t…she…okay…”

The vaguest disturbing of the endless black, like a ripple, from somewhere far away.

“…ight…need…elp…”

“…uck…that…etter you…me…”

Her senses were waking up more and more by the second. Somewhere in the nothingness her awareness was getting stronger, like swimming from the depths up to the water’s surface.

“…ey!...ou hear me…stay...ere you are…”

There was a cold wind on her skin. Her body ached the ache of lying somewhere hard and uncomfortable for hours on end. The smell of humid dirt and staleness lingered in the air, and the darkness beyond her eyelids was rapidly clearing. She shifted. 

“…rap…atch where you step…”

“…eah yeah…”

_“…for…ood…of…eople…” _

Vaguely she realized that it didn’t normally take her this long to wake up. There was the faint sense that something wasn’t quite right. It was… it was probably a good idea to get up properly, wasn’t it?

“…easy now. Easy now. I’m here to help.”

“She’s not a dog, dumbass, hurry up and get her out of there!”

“I-I know that alright! I’m just trying to make sure she doesn’t freak out at me or anything!”

Something was latching onto her shoulders, making a slow attempt to drag her body. The firm pressure gave her the final push she needed to break through to consciousness. With great effort, Kirumi opened her eyes to the sight of bright magenta eyes on a youthful, handsome face. 

Something about his features, softly lit by the setting sun, spiked a sense of déjà vu in her. The familiarity struck her as strange, as she was sure she’d never met him before.

“Uh…” The man said intelligently. “Hi.”

She squinted at him.

He went on, “Listen, don’t take this the wrong way, but I might need to manhandle you a little, for safety reasons.”

“…Why?” Goodness, her throat was parched.

“Weeell…” He cringed. “Don’t panic, but you might be lying on the very old roof of a very old building right now, and I was trying to get you off of it before you shuffled in your sleep and fell off.”

Blinking, Kirumi turned and peered at her surroundings. They were indeed several stories high, lying on one of the many inclined roofs of an elaborate, Japanese-style building, overlooking a dense forest, the trees so far away that they seemed smaller than the nail of her pinky finger. She didn’t have any problems with heights, usually, but the sight made her head spin.

“Oh.” She said.

“Yeah, oh.” The man—more of a teenager really, possibly around her age—agreed. “Are you injured? Can you move on your own?”

Her body was stiff after lying for so long on such an uncomfortable surface, but Kirumi pushed herself up onto her elbows, testing her limbs. They seemed steady enough. “No, I’m fine I believe.”

“Great! That’s great, in that case this’ll be much easier than if I had to carry you. Follow me alright?” He said, shuffling on all fours. “We’re gonna crawl back to the window and hopefully get you out of here. Only go where I’ve gone and especially don’t try to stand up. The tiles might give out from the concentrated weight if you do. I don’t know how structurally sound this roof is.”

“Wow, way put it delicately Shittymota!” Someone called out from the building, sticking their head out of an opening in the wall that could’ve passed for a window. A blonde girl, from what Kirumi could make out. “You looking to scare her off the roof yourself or something?”

“W-what? No, I’m not, shut up, she’s fine! You’re fine, aren’t you?”

“It’s alright.” She sighed. “Lead the way.”

Crawling around wasn’t easy, when the tiles seemed determined to keep catching on her skirt. Still, Kirumi made decent progress towards the opening when she felt eyes watching them.

_“…did…th..nk…ould…escape…our..lives…” _

She froze. “Did you hear something?”

Her companion stopped ahead of her. “Something?”

“Like….” She trailed off, listening. Turned around to glance behind her.

Nothing.

Nothing but the wind whistling in the distance.

“…Nevermind.” She said, and started to shuffle forward when a chill crawled up her spine.

_“…ou’ll…pay… _**_traitors_** _…” _

The roof shuddered ominously.

She barely had a moment to share a look of panic with her companion, before something on the edge of the roof popped, incredibly loud in the quiet. 

Like a catalyst, the whole edge crumbled and gave way like an avalanche. 

They watched in horror as it pulled down all tiles nearby it, creating a chain reaction that grew closer and closer to them, threatening to take them with it. 

“Fucking move you fucks!” The girl from the opening yelled.

They needed no further encouragement.

Both of them stood up and took off at a dead sprint towards the opening, feeling the disaster behind them growing closer and closer, rumbling beneath their feet. 

The wind suddenly picked up into a howling gale, threatening to topple them over. Between the crumbling of the roof and the shrieking tempest Kirumi almost thought she could make out voices swirling around her, like they weren’t alone. It awoke a deep, animalistic fear in her that threatened to drown her in senseless panic, but she didn’t dare lose her head. Not yet.

Just as they reached the opening something cracked thunderously underneath them, and they both instinctively jumped as the rest of the roof gave way, only just barely managing to hang on the splintered wood by their fingertips.

“Holy shit, holy fuck—” The girl was babbling as she scrambled to pull them inside.

Kirumi could barely believe it herself, as she was finally lifted inside. Her heart was doing its best to beat out of her chest, and it was all she could do to not give into fear as she caught her breath. She’d been _so close _to losing her life.

“…Thank you for your assistance.” Kirumi said eventually. “I hate to think of what would have happened if I’d stayed unconscious.”

“Hey no problem, girlie.” The boy said, face still extremely pale. “Just glad I got to you in time.”

“No fucking kidding dude!” The other girl said, swiping a pale strand of blonde hair out of her sweaty face. “If you’d gone even a fraction of a second later both of ya would’ve been goners! That had to be the scariest shit I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen some pretty fucked up things. That has to be a what, a 30-meter drop?”

“I dunno. Felt like more than that.” The boy wheezed. 

Kirumi took a deep breath, and rocked back onto her hands. “If I may inquire… who are you?”

The boy cracked a grin at her. “The name’s Momota Kaito, Future Luminary of the Stars, at your service!!”

“Luminary…?”

“Yeah! Like an astronaut!” He grinned. “It’s my biggest goal in life!”

“Yeah yeah, you’re an astro-nerd, we get it. Bo-ring! I, on the other hand, am the great Iruma Miu-_sama_!” The girl, Iruma-san exclaimed over Momota-san’s spluttering. “Genius Inventor Extraordinaire! You two should be honored—you’re looking at the next up and coming Da Vinci, someone who’ll be permanently etched into the course of history itself! Brains, beauty and boobs; I’m the full package!” She said, lewdly groping her chest in circles.

“Iruma oh my god.” Momota-san reddened, slapping his hands over his eyes. “Please don’t.” 

Kirumi raised an eyebrow at Iruma-san’s antics, but decided to ignore them. “It’s… nice to meet you both. My name is Tojo Kirumi.” She cast a glance at the decaying hall around her, and frowned. “Where are we?”

Both of them faltered at that. 

Iruma-san recovered quicker, and planted her hands on her hips determinately, looking out the window. “Well that’s the question of the century, ain’t it? Me n’ Big Boy over here both woke up with not a clue as to how we got here. We only found each other later when we were checking shit out.”

Kirumi frowned. “None of you know how we got here?”

“Tch. Can’t remember shit.” Iruma-san said. “Far as I know I was having a regular ol’ summer tinkering at the shop, and suddenly I’m waking up in the crummiest love hotel I’ve ever set my eyes on, like I went on a wild bender the night before, except with too much wild and not nearly enough booze. It’s the same for you and Twinkle Man over here, ain’t it? He got the same deal, from what he tells me.” 

“Don’t call me that.” Momota-san told her, and then said to Kirumi. “But yeah, the same thing more or less happened to me. I woke up here in a hallway with only the clothes on my back, but I don’t remember ever coming to this place. I don’t suppose you’ve got your cellphone on you somewhere?”

A quick inspection of her pockets revealed nothing. She shook her head.

“Yeah, us neither. We’ve been looking all over for, I dunno, a map or something that could help us make our way out of here, but nothing’s come up yet.”

Their words brought a sense of low dread to Kirumi’s stomach. “I see.”

Her feelings must have shown through, because Momota-san hurried to reassure her, “This place is huge, though, so I’m sure we’ll find something before long! And it’s not all bad news. Whatever this place is, it has electricity at least. Some of the lights work when you turn them on."

Iruma-san scowled. “Not that it counts for much when the wiring is so damaged. We shouldn’t use any lights if we can help it. All it takes is one short-circuit and the entire building could go up in flames.”

“Kinda surprised it hasn’t done so already. The place is practically falling apart.” Momota-san said.

Iruma-san went on, “We have no reliable light sources, no cellphones, no wifi, not even a decent radio—this place is a blasphemy against everything I stand for as an inventor, I swear.”

“It’s very strange…” Kirumi murmured, letting her eyes slide over the dust and cobwebs, the overgrown plant life, the rotting wood and shredded _shoji_. She thought back to what she’d seen back on the roof. It was nothing more than a depressing skeleton now, but she could almost see what it must have looked like in its prime, once upon a time. Some sort of castle, she thought. It must have been a sight to see. “A structure this grandiose must have enormous historical value. You’d think there’d be more of an effort to maintain it. Why let it waste like this?”

“Maybe it’s haunted!” Iruma-san cackled. Momota-san’s eyes bugged out. “And the ghosts swarming this place killed anyone who tried to! Hey Shittymota! Make sure to use that big beefy body of yours to protect me if you see any bloody spirits coming at us! The world can’t afford to lose this gorgeous brain of mine, got it?”

Momota-san’s face went white. “Don’t go saying things like that when we almost just died, you’ll jinx us!”

That only sent Iruma-san laughing even harder. “Holy shit are you forreal? Don’t tell me you actually believe in ghosts!”

“I-I don’t! I just have a healthy respect for potentially lethal, unexplained phenomena—stop it, Iruma, shut up, stop laughing at me, I’m serious—”

“Oh grow a dick, would’ya?” Iruma-san wheezed. “You know it’s just random connections our brains make to try to understand the unknown, right? There’s nothing actually out there.”

Usually Kirumi would agree with her. But something about the way the roof had collapsed didn’t seem quite right to her. It felt almost sinister in nature. And with the way they’d suddenly woken up in such a mysterious building in the first place….

No. She was jumping to conclusions. There had to be a logical explanation for this.

“I believe it would be more beneficial to focus our efforts on escaping this place as soon as possible,” She spoke up, snapping the other two out of their argument. “Supernatural or not, it’s not safe to stay in such an unstable building, and I don’t have the luxury of wasting time around here when I have important things to do at home.”

“You got it!” Momota-san gave her a thumbs up.

“I hear you loud and clear Goth Babe,” Iruma-san agreed as well. “Better hurry and run before the building collapses in on itself. Would hate to die and get stuck as a ghost in a shithole like this, right Shittymota?”

“Goddammit Iruma could you shut up and take this seriously.” Momota-san snapped.

“Ah, I’m just,” She said meekly. “I’m just saying! There’s a good chance we could be trapped on this floor with no safe way to get down. All that structural damage your fat asses caused on the roof might have really destabilized everywhere else.”

Kirumi’s guts twisted at the thought. “What are the chances of that happening?”

“Well, it depends on how much of the mainframe and walls were affected.” Something about Iruma-san straightened as her brain whirled through scenarios. She made her way over the hole on the wall, half muttering to herself. “Our best scenario would be one where the damage didn’t spread far and all we have to do is avoid certain rooms but if you take into account the age of the building and factors like exposure to the weather and humidity and how well kept it was in its time…. There’s no concrete way of actually knowing until I look at it with my…own…eyes….”

She stopped.

“Iruma-san?”

_“…Motherfucker_.”

The intensity in Iruma-san’s voice startled them both. Momota-san shared a look with her, and approached the opening on the wall where they’d come from. “What? What is it—ooh.”

Beyond it, the rooftop looked absolutely whole and untouched.

* * *

“It’s getting late.” Ryouma frowned at the disappearing daylight. “We’ve followed the wall as far we could. It might be best to head back for now and find a safe place to set up camp. We can always try again tomorrow.”

Although privately he didn't think it would make a difference. Neither the wall nor that strange growth gave any signs of breaking. It might be best to focus their efforts somewhere else.

“As long as you degenerates make sure to keep away from Akamatsu-san in the night. Tenko’s not above using Aikido to disarm you painfully if you attempt anything untoward. Yeah, even you, big guy.” Chabashira huffed, eyeing Gonta suspiciously even as he hurried to reassure her that he would _never _think of doing such a thing. 

Ryouma hadn’t seen her use any martial arts, but he didn’t doubt her ability to outmaneuver even a mammoth of his size. She had a firm, practiced stance and a certain smoothness to her movements—He recognized a fellow athlete when he saw one.

“It’ll be hard to make a camp without any supplies available to us.” Shinguuji hummed.

“Oh, don’t worry about that Shinguuji-kun.” Gonta exclaimed. “Gonta knows lots of stuff about being in the wilderness! I’d be glad to help you if needed!”

“I’m not too shabby myself when it comes to camping.” Amami added cheerfully. “If we search around some of the buildings we might be able to scrounge enough material to make a decent fire, with a bit of luck.”

“Might be best to hurry then.” Ryouma said, eyeing the forest around them. The canopy was thick enough to cast deep shadows everywhere, even back when the sun was at its peak. He didn’t like the thought of hanging around after dark. “Be harder to scrounge if we can’t see anything.”

The others all agreed, and so they set off back up the hill, towards the place where they’d come from. Where’d they’d woken in. That strange, broken town.

Ryouma was glad at least that Amami and Gokuhara really did seem to know what they were doing. It wasn’t that Ryouma had been panicking about the situation, but Gonta had a keen eye for the sort of things that would be useful for their campsite, and Amami had an incredible ability to improvise with the few materials they had on hand, making something out of scraps almost as if like magic. 

It wasn’t long before they had a good fire pit going on besides one of the smaller houses—a store, maybe—that didn’t look like it would collapse on top of them at the slightest breeze, and they’d gotten tatami mats (broken off of the floorboards inside the building) to sleep on. It wasn’t going to be a very comfortable sleep, but it was better than nothing. It was a pretty decent setup considering more than half of them didn’t really know what they were doing.

They’d finished just in time too. By the time they all settled around the fire pit, it was dark enough that the shadows beyond the flames’ light swallowed all shape and form, so much so that they could barely make out anything of the town buildings that he knew were around them. Ryouma wasn’t the superstitious sort, but the effect was unsettling enough that it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up on edge. He accepted the few nuts and berries Gonta handed out and fixed his stare on the crackling fire, instead of the waiting blackness around them.

“Gonta apologizes for the small amount of food. Gonta didn’t find much, so please bear with it for the night.” Gonta said regretfully. 

Amami smiled wryly. “One night without food won’t kill us. Tomorrow we can focus on finding something more substantial. Might be good to go look for a reliable water source as well.”

“Yes I expect we’ll need them in the long run, if there’s any hope of surviving long enough to escape our current situation.” Shinguuji said, eyes glinting in the firelight. “Although I doubt that’s very likely.”

“Don’t say those things, Shinguuji-kun.” Akamatsu said softly.

Chabashira scoffed. “Typical degenerate male attitude, giving up before they’ve even started. Don’t think Tenko will let Akamatsu-san or herself be dragged down to your level.”

“It’s not that I’m particularly eager to give up. I’m just prepared for the most likely outcome. I would be more than glad to be proven wrong but it’s hard to believe any help will come and find us when we ourselves don’t even know where we are.”

Chabashira grit her teeth in frustration.

Ryouma couldn’t stop the dread from creeping up on him at the thought. He didn’t particularly like it, but the other teen had a point.

“Even so,” Kaede spoke up. “What’s the point in believing in cynical thoughts like that? If you give up before the battle is even fought then you’ve already lost, haven’t you? I know it’s scary but… we can’t give up yet.”

“That _is _true.” Shinguuji conceded. “The will to live can be a powerful thing. And I doubt any of us would keel over so easily, not until our abductors have accomplished whatever goal they had in mind by bringing us here.”

That chilling sentence gave them pause. 

“You believe we were brought here on purpose, then?” Saihara asked.

“What other explanation can there be?” Shinguuji said. “We either came here of our own will or we didn’t. But none of us remember making the conscious choice to do the former so it must be the latter.”

“Tch. If some evil degenerates really did bring us here, then what do they want with us? Why hasn’t Tenko seen any of them?”

“Well.” He met her gaze evenly. “That is indeed the question, isn’t it? I suspect we’ll find out soon enough.”

There was nothing they could say to that. 

* * *

Darkness and quiet blanketed the lands. 

_Hm… _

Amidst their ever watching presence, amidst their ever waiting eyes, seven twinkling little Lights curled up beside their gading campfire, turning colder and colder as its embers died down. How curious, their fragile dependence on such illusions of comfort. How quaint.

How lucky that this group had found each other so soon. How selfish.

Even now in the dead of night more Lights shone in the distance, scattered among the grounds. Three around the top floors of _that place,_ three beside the shores. One particularly stupid little Light that wandered around all by itself. All of them ignorant to the low hums of helplessness their distressed souls sung in choir. Abandoning their oaths, deaf to the plights of their so-called treasured companions.

Completely unaware of the _wretched _stars they’d all been born under. They had no idea what was in store for them.

Well. It couldn’t exactly be helped could it? It wasn’t their fault they were as blind as worms and twice as dim. Expecting them to catch on right away had been perhaps, giving them too much credit.

_Go-_ _m̶__a̷__i̴__m̴̛̪͔̦̫̩̻__-hunt-_ _t̵̤͊͌͆__û̷̼__g̴͔̝̰̋̋̈́__-eat-_ _c̸̠̖̤͙͗̚ͅ__r̸̨̹̭̂͌__u̶̢̧̙̘̘͎̙̰͖̮̒__n̷̢̮̝͗̾͂̚͠͠__̣̘__c̷͝__̭͚̙̮͉͎̭͇̃͌̿̈́͛__h̸̖̟̯̚__ yes?? Y_ _E̸͇̪̊͌̒͆͋̊̔͝__̣s??_

No, not yet. Not quite. The time was not right for it. There were still preparations to be completed, spells to be done. Not to mention, she wanted to enjoy herself before it. Savor the delicious scent of their suffering.

But it didn’t mean that they couldn’t give them a little push in the right direction. Speed things along.

_Hunt-hu_ _n̷͒__̠̀͛__t̵̹̩͐̇__-hu_ _N̴̢͊̇__Ţ̶͉͍̊̆__-_ _H̵̾__̧̢̘̱͇̱̬̉__Ṳ̶̦̱͚͐__Ň̶͇͈̤̤̭͐͐__T̸__̢̛̰̰̭̝̃̂̑̍͛̑͠ͅ_

Her lips curled in cold amusement as her companions tore off in different directions. Oh my, they could stand to learn to curb their bloodlust a little. It was sort of endearing, actually.

“I think it’s time we gave our friends a warm welcome, don’t you?” She purred, and knelt down beside the last blinking Light. What a beautiful song it sung. “It’d be so rude of us to let them get bored already. We haven’t even started the game proper yet.”

She pulled a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. A bone-rattling roar echoed in the distance.

“Yes, I think this way will be much more fun.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the group's first night in the ruins turns out to be more eventful than expected.

Roughing it out in the woods was turning out to be much, much harder than Shuichi had ever thought it’d be. So far he’d spent hours tossing and turning in his bed and only had dark bags under his eyes to show for it as he glared up at the night sky.

Their group of stranded teenagers were fortunate enough to have a tranquil night with clear skies and no wind, and the forest turned the humid summer air into something much cooler; comfortable enough to sleep in, but that was where their luck seemed to end. A day hiking through the ruins without food or water were making themselves known in the hollowness of Shuichi’s stomach and the dryness of his mouth, and with the way his joints _ached _from lying on the hard ground it was hard to believe that he was the only one awake in their group.

(It worked in his favor though, as he got to unclasp his binder with no one the wiser. Lying in it was still uncomfortable considering he was sweaty and sore after moving around in it all day, but at least his ribs got to have some degree of relief.)

If he ever got around to writing those mystery stories he had rolling around in his head, he’d make sure to describe in extreme detail how miserable camping was. It was a far cry from his western-style bed back at home, that was for sure. Shuichi rolled over and grumpily tossed away a branch that poked him in the side. Did Amami-kun really do this sort of thing for fun?

Although he probably shouldn’t be as surprised by the insomnia as he was. Even in better conditions sleep had never come particularly easy to him before, always spending long nights getting either too much or too little. And truth be told, their crude sleeping conditions weren’t the only thing keeping him up. Fear and intrigue swirled around in equal forces around his head as he thought over all that had happened in that single day. 

No matter how much he tried he couldn’t think of a reason why this was all happening to them. The kidnappings, the ruins, that strange goo…. They were all pieces to something big, he could just tell. A great mystery to solve, like in all of his favorite books, although Shuichi didn’t think he had _nearly _enough information to pierce it all together yet. Hopefully… hopefully he would get the chance to do so. His heart raced at the thought.

Their own private detective, Amami-kun had called him. He had absolutely no idea how much weight that moniker carried for him. Baby Shuichi had spent all those years absorbing every mystery he could find in books and television shows and movies, solving their puzzles with a zeal that almost consumed him, to the point of begging his uncle to let him help with the cases assigned to him at the agency. Of course, Daisuke-ojisan had obviously denied him every time, having the sense to keep a young impressionable kid away from case files that were both sensitive and unseemly, but he’d always said that Shuichi had an eye for detail that would make him a fine detective someday if that was truly the path he wanted to pursue. He had. He _did_. And now. _Now_, he had the opportunity to solve a mystery all on his own…

…at the cost of being an unwilling participant in whatever scheme this had to be. He was scared. He was _terrified_—of the strangers he was stuck with, at all the unknowns that surrounded them, at the possibility of danger waiting around every corner; but he was also, rather inappropriately, kind of… excited for it.

_I really should be treating this more seriously. This could be dangerous, _he reminded himself. _People could die of exposure; we could get hurt by wild animals or accidentally poison ourselves. Just because nothing’s happened _yet _doesn’t mean it won’t in the future… _

Logically, he knew that. 

Emotionally, his inner baby Shuichi was too busy shrieking his heart out in excitement to let him properly digest the kind of danger they were in.

As long as no one got hurt, as long as they were rescued soon… a little indulgence couldn’t hurt, could it? Finding some answers might be important. 

That was what was really keeping him up at night.

A soft groan beside him broke through that train of thought. He craned his neck to see Akamatsu-san sitting up on her own mat, rubbing the back of her head.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Slipped out of him before he could think better of it. Akamatsu jumped. 

Wait, shoot, his binder was still unclasped!

Should he do something? 

She might notice if he did, and it was dark enough that he didn’t think she would notice unless specifically looking for it. He settled for shifting carefully, rolling onto his arms to keep his chest out of sight in what passed for a sign of interest in the conversation.

To his relief Akamatsu-san didn’t notice. She was still recovering, clearly not having expected anyone else awake.

“Ah….” He grimaced, “Sorry for startling you.”

“No it’s fine,” She sighed. “I’m just kind of on edge I guess. What about you? I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No. I was just thinking.” He stared at the glowing embers of what remained of their fire. “Today’s been an… interesting day.”

“It’s a lot to take in.” Akamatsu bit her lip. “Hard to get any sleep over it—I can’t stop thinking about what Shinguuji-kun said. About our kidnappers.” She confessed. “It’s scary. They could be close by us for all we know. They could be watching us right now.”

It wasn’t easy to see with the low light, but his sharp eyes were used to reading people. He could make out how she curled into herself with insecurity, trying to seem small, and a pang of guilt clenched his stomach at the sight.

What kind of insensitive douchebag was he? Here he was getting swept away by the allure of investigating his own personal mystery like it was all some sort of game while his companions were living in fear and paranoia. It didn’t seem right to get caught up in his own stupid fantasies like that, not when he owed it to them to play his own part to ensure their survival as a group. It was a sharp contrast compared to Akamatsu, who was always trying her best to remain bright and cheerful despite their circumstances. He couldn’t just stand by and let her wallow in her own fear.

“…They could be,” He allowed, watching her face as it fell. “But think about it logically. It wouldn’t make any sense would it? Assuming our kidnappers are even real in the first place, there’s nothing to be gained from watching us in the middle of the night—I’m sure they’d need their sleep too.”

She looked a little more reassured at that.

“Right, you’re right. You’re totally right. Sorry.” Akamatsu slumped just the tiniest bit. “You probably think I’m being a wimp, huh.”

Oh the irony of her asking that question to him of all people. He snorted. 

“Wow okay! Tell me what you really think!”

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean it like that.” He said awkwardly. “I’ve just… always been a wi—a high-strung sort of person so. It’s kind of funny that you’re asking _me _that sort of question, that’s all.” Amaya-obasan often teased that he was as jumpy as a skittish horse, although he liked to think that he’d improved since he was a kid. 

“Oh.”

“And to answer your question, I think you’re being very brave right now.” He risked shifting a little to scratch his cheek. “You’re just scared. We all are. I know it’s… hard to work past the fear, especially when you’ve got a good reason for it. But you’re doing a better job than you think.”

“Oh. Thanks. I really needed to hear that.” The smile she gave him for that was wobbly, but heartfelt. He wondered what she would say if she knew what he’d been thinking. Thank goodness she couldn’t read his thoughts.

“No problem,” He said weakly. “We should… probably go back to sleep. It’s really late.”

“Right, I’m sorry, I won’t keep you awake any longer. Good night, Saihara-kun.”

“Night.” He laid down, and prayed that sleep would come to him soon.

It must have worked for a bit, because the next thing he knew someone was gripping his shoulders, shaking him awake. Shuichi groaned at the sensation. Just when he’d finally got some rest too… He might as well not have slept at all, as groggy as he felt. Half-heartedly, he tried swatting them away to no avail. 

“—aihara-kun! Wake up, wake up, please, _please._”

That was Akamatsu-san’s voice. Whatever grumpiness dredged up from being disturbed fizzed away into a sense of unease, and he forced himself up despite his heavy limbs and cotton-filled head. “What, what. What is it?”

Akamatsu held up a finger to her mouth for silence, every movement slow and deliberate, face pale and eyes wide. The alarm evident in every inch of her body made him suddenly that much more awake.

“Look over there,” She whispered, pointing.

At first, he didn’t see any out of the ordinary. The ruins stood silent and untouched as they had all night.

But the more he looked, the more he realized that the tiny little light hovering between the broken buildings didn’t actually belong there. 

It was an unassuming thing, glowing a pale blue that cast long shadows on its surroundings. Yet something about it made his blood turn to ice, made something nameless and instinctive in him rear its head, ready to dash off at the slightest hint of a threat. It almost seemed to suck all sound out of the night, the way it floated eerily quiet. 

“You see it too, right?” Akamatsu-san whispered, looking just as terrified as he felt.

“Yeah.” He swallowed. “Should we wake everyone up?”

She bit her lip. “What if we cause a panic and catch that thing’s attention?”

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

Akamatsu wavered for a moment, before snatching the sword beside her and getting to her feet.

“Akamatsu-san?” He whispered, watching wide-eyed as she slowly crept over to take cover beside a building. “Akamatsu-san, what are you doing?”

“Stay here, okay? I’m going to check if that thing’s dangerous.”

His eyes bugged out. “Are you _crazy__?_ What are you going to do if it is!?”

Unfortunately, in his panic he forgot to keep his voice low. Someone grumpily called out for him to shut up and Shuichi slapped a hand over his mouth. 

Akamatsu gave him a grim look. It would’ve looked more determined if he hadn’t been able to see the white-knuckled grip she had on her sword, her knees knocking. “If I’m not back in ten minutes, wake up Amami-kun and explain the situation.”

And then she disappeared into the dark.

“Akamatsu-san!” He half-whispered, half-yelled. “Akamatsu-san, no, wait, come back—”

It was no use, she was gone.

Shit. Shuichi bit his lip and sat back in consideration. He looked back at his remaining companions. They slept on, completely unaware.

As much as it terrified him, he couldn’t just stay behind. The others had each other to keep safe if something happened, but Akamatsu was all alone out there. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if something happened to her because of his cowardice.

Shit. If he was going to follow after her he had no time to lose. Reclasping his binder and snatching his hat, he got to his feet before he could overthink it and cursed himself as he snuck in the direction Akamatsu had left.

He wasn’t sure where to go at first. He could just barely see enough to keep from slamming his nose into anything blindly—he knew he would get lost easily if he just wandered around aimlessly. In the quiet dark, without any significant landmarks the ruins almost warped before his eyes to become a confusing, endless maze. It would be so easy to get lost if he was careless.

But Akamatsu-san had said she would investigate that strange glow, wouldn’t she? And going towards the light was much easier to do, so it made sense to head over there as well. Maybe he could cut her off before she reached the source.

“Akamatsu-san,” He called as loud as he dared, hoping to spot some hint of her in his surroundings as he followed the light. “Akamatsu-san!”

The faintest pressure grew in his head, and the smallest whispers caught his ears. With a sudden, terrible certainty he realized he was not alone. He froze.

It was faint. A sound low enough that he almost passed it off as his imagination at first, but slowly growing louder. He couldn’t make out much of it, the way it garbled static like a broken radio.

_“…ave…..to….can’t…let…” _

His hackled stood on end. “Who’s there?”

_“…so…rry…...this…nly…w…ay…” _

“What do you mean? Who are you?” He held still for a moment, but nothing else seemed to be forthcoming. The voice was fading again, and the pressure in his head along with it, almost making him lightheaded. “Hello?”

“What are you doing here?” 

Shuichi jumped. He whirled around to see Akamatsu-san glaring at him, hidden in the shadows made by the blue light.

“I thought I told you to stay behind.” She continued unaware. 

“I…” He looked around. There didn’t seem to be anything else around her. His heart beat fast in his throat. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“There was… No, it was nothing.” He wasn’t sure he had the words to explain it, and she’d probably worry if he asked her if she’d been hearing any mysterious disembodied voices. Maybe he’d just imagined it. “Never mind. You shouldn’t have run off like that, Akamatsu-san. I came here to help you.”

“Absolutely not.” She said.

“I can’t let you go into danger by yourself. What if something happens?”

“I have protection with me.”

“Just because you have a sword doesn’t mean nothing could happen to you.” He shot back. “You don’t know how to use it properly. It’ll be much safer with two people instead of one.”

“Yeah but you don’t even have your sword with you,” She pointed out. He looked down and realized she was right—he’d left it behind on his mat without thinking. “Go back, Saihara-kun.”

The thought of facing off whatever danger they encountered without protection almost made him consider it. But there was Akamatsu to think about, and he’d already come this far. “I can’t. I can’t leave you alone. Please let me come along, I can just be a lookout if need be.”

Something in his expression must have convinced her. She must have seen that he wouldn’t budge.

“Fine.” She relented. “But stay behind me, okay?”

He nodded.

Slowly, the two of them crept closer to where the light was stronger. It made it easier to see, but the eerie effect on their surroundings, deep shadows flickering about them, made Shuichi wish he could crawl back into the dark, feeling oddly exposed. The silence was so loud and overbearing that any amount of movement, no matter how small, seemed to almost give them away. He couldn’t help but try to make himself smaller in face of it, like a mouse amongst giants.

Finally, they reached the last building closest to the source of the light, the one before a small courtyard. Beyond that there was nothing they could hide behind. At this distance they had a much better look of that strange apparition. 

It was… it was a brilliant glowing orb—not very big, around the size of a baseball—made of pale blue flames and floating clean off the ground. Shuichi couldn’t believe his eyes.

He couldn’t see any projections around it, or anything to insinuate it was fake. He wasn’t sure something like that _could _be faked, not when the way it hovered unassumingly in the open, as if waiting for something, made his stomach clench in anxiety with something that felt very, very real. Every nerve in his body told him to stay as far away from it as possible. 

He turned to Akamatsu-san, uneasy. She seemed just as startled at the inexplicable sight as he was. _What do we do now? _

She let out a quiet breath, then straightened up and stepped out, sword at the ready. “Hello?”

Saihara nearly had a heart-attack at her boldness, but the glowing light didn’t react to her presence.

Akamatsu dared take a step closer. “Hello?” She repeated, and waited for a reaction. 

Nothing. 

Shuichi dared to step out as well, slowly moving to her side.

“It’s not doing anything.” He whispered to her as quietly as he dared.

Akamatsu-san nodded. “Do you think it’s dangerous?”

The flames flickered.

_ …Hhhello _

Shuichi’s heart stopped for a beat. Akamatsu nearly dropped the sword. They stared in disbelief at the orb.

She glanced at him, wide-eyed. “Did it just—?”

It took a moment to find his voice. “I-I…”

In the blink of an eye the orb flickered out of sight, only to appear right before their feet.

_ Hhhello, _

_ Hello! _

_ Hello _

_ HeLLO~ _

They gaped. It was definitely talking.

The voice that came out of it, high-pitched and clumsy, spoke in fragmented segments that changed tone on a whim. It felt like speaking to a child, but its words had a supernatural weight to them that resonated deep within Shuichi’s ribcage, impossible to ignore. 

No special effect could even dream of having that sort of sway on him, which meant it had to be real.

“What is this? Am I dreaming? Are we still asleep back at home?” Akamatsu said dazedly. She nudged him with an elbow. “Quick Saihara-kun, pinch me.”

“What?” He squawked. “No way, go pinch yourself.”

She did so, pulling at her cheek. “It’s no use, nothing’s happening,” She moaned. “There’s still a floating ball of fire in front of me. A talking floating ball of fire.” 

If the way it cobbled words together could be called talking to start with. Shuichi didn’t dare say that out loud though. He didn’t want to find out what would happen if he offended the little creature. “It looks like… some kind of ghost light?” 

There were so many names for them worldwide—the onibi, the hitodama, the kitsunebi in Japan, the will-o-wisps and bog lights in other countries, among others. They weren’t as interesting as mystery stories with demons or poltergeists, but he was well-versed in their folklore. Balls of light that appeared mostly to travelers in the dead of night, that would either guide them to safety or trick people off a cliff.

Could it really understand them? Shuichi stepped closer, squinting suspiciously at it. Despite his proximity to its flames it didn’t cast any heat. “What are you?” 

Friend or foe?

Its flames flickered.

_ Yyyouu _

_ are _

_ hello _

_ Hello! _

_ Are what _

_ hello! _

Shuichi couldn’t help the shudder that traveled down his spine. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to that. Every ethereal word it spoke chimed like a bell, leaving him lightheaded and almost warping his surroundings, making them seem brighter yet blurrier.

“What do you think it wants?” Akamatsu said.

“I don’t know.” Its sudden appearance couldn’t be a coincidence. “Maybe it’s here to help?”

It seemed to be the right question to ask. The ghost light squealed, flames bursting in intensity, and in between one blink and another, it went from floating right in front of them to a few meters away, to jumping to the other side of the little courtyard, floating expectantly.

The meaning behind was obvious—it wanted them to follow them.

They shared a look.

“What do we do?” Shuichi asked.

“What else can we do? I think… we have to go along with it.”

“We don’t know where it wants to take us. It could be dangerous.” They had no way of knowing whether the creature really was trustworthy. He was familiar enough with the legends. It could just as well lead them off a cliff with them none-the-wiser.

The way Akamatsu-san licked her lips, she seemed to be well aware of that. “It looks like it might know something though,” She pointed out. “We might be able to get some answers…”

As much as it rankled at him, she was right. The thought of finding a new lead was too enticing to ignore. He didn’t think he would be able to rest for the rest of the night without knowing what it wanted from them. 

“Okay then. Let’s go.” They’d just have to keep an eye out for danger and hope for the best.

* * *

There was something incredibly mythical about being guided by a spirit at nighttime. Shuichi couldn’t help but feel distinctly like a ghost himself, trailing after the blue light in silence. Despite the winding maze that the dark made of the ruins the little creature never seemed to falter, whereas Shuichi immediately found himself terribly disorientated. The only thing he could be sure of was that they were headed someplace uphill. 

“Saihara-kun, look.” Akamatsu-san whispered to him as quietly as she dared.

He did so. They were less alone than they’d thought, he realized.

Little by little, more ghost lights were popping into existence between the buildings as if they’d always been there, observing the two of them as they passed by. They were all of different sizes and shades, ranging from eerie white to that sharp pale blue to a ghostly purple. He noted, pulse thrumming, that the two of them were quickly outnumbered, but he didn’t get the sense that the creatures were dangerous. 

Somehow the lights must have thought the same of them, because they all unanimously started to follow along until they had a whole crowd floating alongside them, lighting up the way better than any flashlight could have done, cooing at them with friendly, childish voices.

It was like they had their own personal escort, an entourage of ghost lights like something only told about in spirit tales. All sense of exhaustion, hunger and thirst faded in the awe of the moment.

“Wow….” Shuichi dared to breathe. He tipped his hat up to get a better look.

Akamatsu watched with wide eyes. “Yeah, it’s… _amazing _….”

Like being in a dream.

They both moved as quietly as they dared, afraid that the slightest noise would somehow break the magic around them. 

They cleared the outskirts of town and climbed onto the dirt path that Shuichi knew led straight to the castle grounds. His curiosity grew more and more. Where were the lights leading them, exactly? However halfway up the hill the ghost lights instead veered off the trail and went straight into the woods, disappearing into the undergrowth.

The two of them paused, and the parade of ghost lights behind them did as well, waiting patiently for them to take that first step.

Shuichi swallowed, and looked at Akamatsu. “Still sure this is a good idea?”

Fear shone through for a second before she squared her shoulders, nostrils flaring. “We’ve come this far already. There’s no turning back.”

“I don’t know about this…”

“It’ll be fine.” She insisted, but added awkwardly, ”Can I hold your hand though? Just in case?”

Shuichi went red and desperately hoped she couldn’t see it. Nevertheless, he held his hand out for her to grab, and they both trudged into the wilderness.

The hike up through the forest was much harder. The exercise left him somewhat breathless, thanks in part to his binder. There were jutting roots and unstable rocks everywhere that were hard to spot in the poor lighting, threatening to trip him up and drag down Akamatsu-san with him. It was really unnerving actually—the only reason they could see anything at all was because of the fire of the ghost lights themselves.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how easy it would be for them to disappear and leave them stranded and vulnerable in the wilderness. But the way they floated besides them, faithfully lighting along the way, it was hard to believe they could ever be that malicious.

He didn’t realize it at first but at some undeclared point the ghost lights slowly started vanishing one by one, gradually lessening their light. He desperately hoped it didn’t mean anything bad. He couldn’t help squeezing Akamatsu’s hand in worry. If the coldness and clamminess of his hand bothered her, she didn’t mention it, squeezing his own in return.

It didn’t take long before they were down to the single ghost light again, and as it stopped to wait for them to catch up Shuichi realized that they’d also arrived at their destination.

Akamatsu paled. “Oh…”

He completely agreed. He wasn’t sure what he had expected, but finding a hole carved into the walls of the hill wasn’t it.

It was big, just big enough that they could walk into it at full height without their heads touching the roof, and it looked as old and abandoned as the rest of this place did. It didn’t look much like a natural cave, more like a tunnel that something, or someone had dug out. They could see nothing beyond the tree roots and weeds lining the entrance, and any visibility cast by the ghost light only went in a few meters before it was swallowed by the endless void of the rest of the tunnel. 

It had bad news written all around it. And the ghost light wanted them to go into _that__?_ He swallowed. “Akamatsu-san…”

Her voice was small, “I know.”

He looked over it reluctantly, skin skittering at the nothingness. “It looks like it leads directly underneath the castle.”

She bit her lip and turned to the little blue ball. “Why did you bring us here? Where does that tunnel go?” 

It said nothing, hovering patiently. 

“I don’t understand; what’ll we find in there? …Is this supposed to help us out?”

The light squealed, jumping all over the small clearing before stopping by the entrance. Shuichi wasn’t sure what to make of it. Akamatsu looked just as dubious.

“This is a really bad idea.” She said. But at the same time she sounded like she’d already made up her mind.

“We can’t just do nothing.” He pointed out. “We need answers, and this is the biggest lead we’ve got so far. What other options do we have?”

She shuddered. “I wish it wasn’t so creepy-looking though. Why can’t we investigate something fun? Like a nice music venue, or a greenhouse or a casino o-or anything else instead?”

_A casino’s your idea of fun? _“…Maybe in another life.” Shuichi tightened his grip on Akamatsu’s hand. “C’mon. The sooner we investigate, the sooner we get some answers and get out of there.”

She took a deep breath, tapping rhythmically on the sword handle. “Right… Here we go then....”

They stepped into the tunnel. The ghost light cooed delightedly, and started bouncing up ahead of them when…

_“What do you two think you’re doing?” _

They froze. 

The ghost light yelped and extinguished without a trace.

A hand reached for Akamatsu-san and pulled her (and by extension Shuichi) out of the tunnel. Shuichi would have lost his balance if he hadn’t let go of her. Both of them turned around to see Amami-kun right behind them, holding a makeshift torch in one hand.

The dark expression on his face was nothing short of pissed.

“Amami-kun!” Shuichi yelped.

“Amami-kun,” Akamatsu gasped. “How did—what are you doing here?”

“What am _I _doing here? I’m here because I woke up to find two knuckleheads missing and tracked them down to the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night, standing in front of what looks like a gate to hell.” He bit out. “_Please _tell me this isn’t what it looks like. Are you two crazy? Were you both seriously about to go into some weird hole?”

“W-we can explain!” Shuichi said.

“What would possibly explain wanting to go into a place like _that_? It looks like it could collapse on top of you at any moment!”

“Because we have reason to believe that there’s something down there! Something important! That’s what the lights told us.” Akamatsu said.

“Lights?”

Crap. Without the ghost lights around to back them up this explanation would not end well. Saihara tried to catch Akamatsu’s attention, frantically motioning for her to abort but she went on.

“Amami-kun it was incredible! We found these… these ghost lights, like you hear in the stories! We weren’t sure what to make of them first but they led us to this place,” She seemed to catch on to what he was trying to tell her. “…And then they disappeared.” 

“Ghost lights? what the hell?” Amami-kun said.

“I know it sounds hard to believe.” Shuichi said. “But we saw it with our own eyes, both of us. They looked pretty real to me, and they implied that whatever’s in those tunnels might have some answers for us.”

“Or there might be something down there that could eat you.” Amami countered. “Seriously? Are you kidding me? Whether it was real or not, you can’t possibly tell me you didn’t stop to think that something like that appearing out of nowhere wasn’t even the least bit suspicious.”

Akamatsu started, “Amami—”

“No, listen to me. Anyone with any small amount of common sense knows tunnels you find in the wild like that—” He jerked his head at it. “Are nothing but bad news. Especially not in our circumstances. And you thought it was a good idea to go into this one with nothing but a rusty old sword? On the advice of some creature that doesn’t even plain exist? I was under the impression that both of you were smarter than this!”

“We don’t know if that’s true though!” Akamatsu protested. “There might be something important—!”

“Or there might be a trap!” He snapped back. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe whatever that phenomena was, it meant to lure you both here on behalf of the kidnappers?”

Akamatsu’s face went white.

He couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t considered that possibility either, but it was plausible enough to make his blood turn to ice. “…The lights seemed friendly enough.”

Amami scoffed. “Of course they did. It would be much easier to get you to cooperate if they gained your trust.”

“Then… it was all a trick? An illusion?” Akamatsu said, voice small. “But it felt so real… What if there really is something important there?”

“We can’t afford to take that sort of chance. Not in a place like this. Please,” Amami begged. “_Please_, come back to camp with me. It’s not worth the risk.”

He looked so taut with worry that it was hard to get mad at his words. What _had _they been doing? Shuichi suddenly felt stupid, standing there in front of the tunnel.

“Okay…” He said softly, and stepped away. He kept his eyes off of the betrayed look on Akamatsu’s face.

For a moment she looked like she would keep fighting Amami for the right to go on. But then she wilted, and nodded her agreement as well.

* * *

As they followed Amami-kun back down the hill a shameful silence lingered in the air. Saihara-kun occasionally glanced up like he wanted to say something, but between Amami-kun’s still stewing aura and Kaede’s hunched shoulders he could tell that no one was up for a conversation.

Kaede was grateful for it. She couldn’t stop dwelling on the white-hot sting of humiliation that sunk her stomach and burned in the back of her throat.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_. How could she be so naïve?

If Mom had been there she would’ve definitely given her an earful for acting so impulsively yet again. And she would have earned it too, she really should have known better, ADHD or no. She’d gotten so caught up in the magic and allure of answers that she hadn’t thought twice about going along with the ghost lights, despite knowing that their mysterious appearance couldn’t be a coincidence, that they definitely had to be related to whatever this kidnapping was.

She’d even brought Saihara-kun into it too, despite all his protests. She could’ve dragged an innocent person into a dangerous trap all because of her tendency to never _think_. Her family had scolded her for it what seemed a thousand times now but it never seemed to stick.

_…I hope they’re alright. _

They must’ve been worried out of her mind for her, the poor things. All of their families must be. She knew that if their situations were reversed she’d be doing everything in her power to get her family home. Despite having been here for half a day already Kaede was having a hard time coming to terms with it herself. The lack of answers was driving her crazy. She’d scoured the whole ruins and all she had to show for it was some dubious proof that strange, possibly _supernatural _things were happening. She ached for her family’s arms, but she was glad that they weren’t caught up in the middle of whatever this was.

She sighed. Saihara slowed down a little for her, and she joined his side gratefully. Up ahead, Amami-kun walked on, leading the way through the town ruins, the strong set of his shoulders comforting even though she could tell he was still spooked by their little spectacle. At least she wasn’t alone in this, for better or for worse.

“You doing okay?” Saihara-kun asked.

“Mm, just a little tired.” She rubbed her arms. “And hungry. And thirsty and homesick and,” She sighed. “Kind of upset with myself too, if I’m honest with you.”

“You shouldn’t go blaming yourself for falling for the ghost lights’ trick.” He said. “I didn’t exactly stop us either, after all.”

“Yeah but at least you tried. I just keep jumping after whatever catches my attention without thinking of the consequences.” She bit her lip. “Saihara-kun… you saw the same things I did, right? Was all of that really fake?”

He brought a hand up to his mouth in consideration. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of any technology that could achieve that sort of effect. But you have to admit that the thought of something paranormal going on sounds a little absurd. There has to be some kind of plausible explanation for all of this. On the other hand, if those ghost lights were actually real…” He hesitated. “It might explain a lot.”

What? “What do you mean?”

“Well… think about it. The legends say that they lure unsuspecting travelers to their death, so I bet they know tons of ways to do it. There’s a chance they might have used the same tricks to affect us as well.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Magically, I mean.”

Oh.

_Oh. _

For a moment, Kaede forgot to breathe. It made horrible, terrible sense, but at the same time she couldn’t believe it. She could remember every decision she’d made up to the point where they’d been standing in front of the tunnel with perfect clarity. They’d all been her own choice, her own actions taken based on her own judgements. It hadn’t felt like she’d been influenced by anything, but to think it was all because of an enchantment, that she was being manipulated and worse, that she hadn’t _known _she was being manipulated…

_I think I’m gonna throw up. _

“I-it’s just a theory!” Saihara-kun said, but even so he looked as green as she felt.

“We need to tell the others about this.” She squeaked. “We need to—need to come up with a plan—”

“Plan for what?”

She looked up at Amami-kun as he approached. She swallowed, the action that much more painful by how tight her throat felt. “Amami-kun,” She started, but didn’t get the chance to go on.

Something roared nearby, and the three of them froze.

Cursing, Amami snuffed out the torch and motioned for them to take cover in a building nearby. They scurried in quickly and carefully shut the half-rotten door, huddling around a broken hole in the wall that could serve as a peephole.

“What the hell was that?” Kaede hissed. It didn’t seem normal. No animal video she’d ever seen on the internet had ever sounded like anything like that, and the roar was too low and guttural to have any hopes of it belonging to anything small or friendly. She sincerely doubted an encounter with it would be peaceful.

“A bear?” Saihara guessed. “A lion?”

“I don’t know.” Amami whispered back. Only a small bead of cold sweat dripping down his cheek betrayed his unease. “I’ve never heard anything make that kind of noise.”

“A monster, then.”

“Saihara-kun, now is _really _not the time.”

“Shut up, shut up!” Kaede shoved them both down. “I hear something coming! Be quiet!”

They all hunkered low to the ground and fell quiet.

Her heartbeat was so loud in the silence. In some ways, the wait was almost worst. They could barely see anything in the dark, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t sense it. 

A malicious, oppressive aura swelled that made the air thick and suffocating. It had a corrosive bite to it that clogged her windpipes and made her eyes water despite the lack of a smell. With it came the ever-growing sensation of an unnatural, eldritch buzzing, a hellish blend of static, growling and accusing whispers that would forever haunt her nightmares. 

Her chest grew tight with fear. She’d never experienced anything like it.

It was here.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like a fight for survival to get the blood pumping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new years everyone!
> 
> just a quick note, i went back and edited some background details when i noted a few discrepancies compared to my research on japanese architecture. luckily its not anything plot-relevant so far, so its just a small fyi in case u go back and notice a change in details (also i added some terminology). im not japanese nor do i speak the language so please bear with me if there are inaccuracies that don't have to do with the story....;;;
> 
> if anyone's curious as to what the castle ruins look like, i'm basing them loosely off of himeji castle mainly (for the winding outside fortress and appearance), with some help from azuchi castle and kumamoto castle (for the interior of the main tower keep)
> 
> warning for:
> 
>   * some non-graphic violence
>   * a couple of blood and injury mentions
>   * some disturbing imagery at the near end of the chapter
>   * sword impalement (on bad guys)
> 
> enjoy the chapter!

What a nightmare. What a mistake this night had been. Kaede had never more regretted going after that stupid ghost light.

Huddled inside an old house with Saihara and Amami, body enveloped in a cold sweat, she closed her eyes and prayed to any god listening that whatever was out there wouldn’t manage to find them.

The buzzing cut clean through the dark, growing with ever-more intensity like fanfare announcing a king. There was a dark uncanny edge to it that vibrated in her teeth and instilled a nauseating sense of pressure in her head.

A heartbeat passed.

Two.

Whatever it was that was out there drew closer. It shuffled and huffed and rumbled in unnatural steps as it moved, squelching like sloppy meat, steady and unconcerned, like it was well aware that it was not a being to be trifled with. And with it came something else, a noise so out of place that she almost couldn’t believe her ears at first.

Giggling. Strange, gleeful giggling that echoed in a warped voice, overlaid like it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be merrily high-pitched or a low, rolling growl. It went on and on without stopping or faltering like it was listening to the world’s longest joke, but the sound was so unnatural that she knew that it would keep ringing in her nightmares for years to come. Kaede could scarcely breathe, scared that any twitch, any betrayal of the fear churning in her body might give her away, contrary to the turbulent urge telling her to get up and run as fast and as far away as she could before it noticed her.

She swallowed it down with an extreme effort and forced herself to stay still, but she couldn’t stop herself from going for Saihara-kun’s hand, gripping it fiercely. His shaking fingers curled back around hers in response, but it was a cold comfort at best when they were lying so close to what could only be a monster—all it took was the smallest detail to give them away to it, and then they _would_ be done for, this much she could tell.

Nothing about it seemed to hint at the idea that it had spotted them in any way, even as it approached their hiding spot, but she was terrified nonetheless. It came closer and closer, until Kaede saw movement outside of the hole they were facing and knew with a terrible certainty that it was standing directly in front of the building where they lay.

And then it stopped.

And she could hear the beast sniff the air.

And it spoke.

**C****̸****om****̶̼̙̍****e****̸̡͋̇̒̕**** o****̴****u****̶****t****̵**** li****̏ͦͪ͡****t****̾̈́͜****t****̷̡̽̄****l****̶****̃****̎****̣e****̴̫̎** **p̶****͇̥̉̄****re̸̖̩̥͌͒̿̇****y̴͕͓͌̅͛̋****̣ w̸̥̔****i̵****ll̷̟̽** **̸͚͌̌****s****̶͙̾****q****̵̹͆̈́ͅ** **u̷****i̸****s̴****h̶** **̶̫̒̈́**** a****̤̰̺͍̼͂͛͊****n****͇̩ͨͯ̽͐****d****͓ͧͤͣ͌̊ͣ̚** **̯͚͑̅͐****m****̝̘̝̠̟̍****u****̷̳͊****n****̵̧͇̚****c****̶̧̓͂****h****̴͚̈́**

The world almost grayed out for a second. Any doubts that it might have been a normal creature burned from her mind. She couldn’t understand it, but if it was a language it was anything _but_ normal, what with the way it crackled like static in her ears and deepened that awful sense of pressure in her head, giving her a very physical nausea that threatened to make her throw up what little she had in her stomach.

Wicked, was the appropriate word to describe it. She wasn’t sure if religion had anything to do with it, but there was no way that… _monster_ was anything but unholy. Kaede couldn’t stop trembling. What little visibility there was of the night disappeared as her eyes fogged up with tears.

_ Please don’t let it find us. Please don’t let this be the end. _

It said something else in that terrifying language, just as incomprehensible but somehow, harsher. Maybe even angrier. Panic swelled in her, threatening to engulf her like a tsunami. She was barely aware of Saihara-kun tensing beside her. The only thing standing between them and certain death was the thin, crumbling wall of the building hiding them from view, and it was too frail for her liking. The slightest breeze would knock it over. They had to move.

Slowly and deliberately, Kaede waved to catch both Amami and Saihara’s attention. As soon as their eyes were on her, she jabbed her finger behind them and mouthed, “Escape.” They caught on pretty quickly, to her relief.

Though her muscles quaked, she let go of Saihara-kun and lifted herself off the ground as quietly as possible. The eerie, continuous buzzing drowned out any sounds of movement, but she daren’t take any chances. She made sure to be as careful as possible, and kept her sword from banging against anything that might give them away.

They sneaked further into the building, breath held as they crossed torn sliding doors and old furniture. Moonlight beamed through gaps in the ceiling and second floor. Her nose wrinkled at the stale air, and she had to fight to hold in a sneeze.

From the front of the house she could hear the beast still shuffling about. It grunted and mumbled to itself and she resisted the urge to sigh in relief. So far so good… they hadn’t been noticed yet, they could still get away.

Then Amami-kun dared a glance behind him, and in his carelessness tripped over a fallen wooden beam. Maybe they could’ve gotten away with just that, but as he toppled over his hand instinctively shot out to catch himself on whatever was nearby, and the closest table—already tilted on unsteady legs and full of trinkets—was fragile enough to come crashing down under the force of his weight.

Ceramic exploded into pieces. Saihara yelped. Amami hit the floor with a grunt.

Kaede couldn’t move from where she was standing, hands over her mouth in shock. Saihara-kun’s face, from what she could make of it, was ash-white. Amami-kun picked himself off the ground with alarm written all over his expression as the buzzing cut off, leaving them flooded in naked silence. They all looked at each other, faces mirrored in their horror.

They didn’t have time to move. A shrill squeal of delight was their only warning before something cannonballed through the walls.

Kaede couldn’t help the scream that tore through her throat as the house collapsed all around them. Bits of walls and ceiling crashed down under the unstable weight, old pots and glass shattering and kicking up dust clouds into the already stale air. The fallen walls and narrow gaps of space left were perhaps the only thing that kept the beast from hurting them, as its massive body crashed through furniture and wood like a bull in a china shop. 

“Get out!” She managed to yell amidst the chaos, choking on the dust. “Get out now!” She couldn’t even tell if anyone had taken her advice.

The building creaked dangerously. Mad cackling boomed right beside her, right into her sensitive ears, and jolted her legs into moving before her mind could catch up. Although half-blind through dust and dark, she nevertheless ran for it, almost tripping and slamming into every wall before her until the dust cloud around her gave way to the empty air of the streets. Kaede didn’t think, didn’t stop to catch her breath—she just _ran, _horrific, distorted laughter ringing behind her.

Just in time too, as a thunderous crash cut through the night. She whipped around to see more dust clouds kicking up in the moonlight from a mountain of rubble between buildings where there should’ve been a house instead.

Her heart leapt to her throat. “Saihara-kun! Amami-kun!” She cried.

And regretted it a second later when a delighted howl came out of the clouds, and with it came the nightmarish mass of the beast, charging straight at her like an incoming freight train.

_ What the hell is that!? _She turned tail and ran. It was like someone had taken a grinning teddy bear from hell, melted half of its body into oozing red goo and stretched it to actual bear proportions—no, beyond that even. Something so monstrous had no business bearing massive, deadly claws that could probably slice though steel as if it were paper, folded into its oversized paws as it ran on its knuckles like a gorilla. Horrifying didn’t even begin to cover it.

How was she supposed to outrun a monster like that? Was it even possible? The pounding of its heavy gait behind her had her pumping her legs as fast as possible. She couldn’t tell if she was faster than it—she was running too hard to look behind and check.

It shrieked delightedly, the sound too close for comfort, and on impulse Kaede lunged for an alleyway just in time to avoid the massive swipe of claws that would’ve sliced her to pieces. Momentum carried the bear straight ahead, unable to turn in time, and she felt the monstrous force of it whip past her as it rushed by and smashed into another building. The sound was just as tremendous the second time, but she didn’t dare stop and look. It’d already shrugged off one building collapsing on top of it. Why would a second slow it down?

Sticking to the winding streets of the town was her only salvation, weaving between the forest trees overtaking the town and taking as many random corners as she could. Even a nightmarish beast like that had to obey the laws of physics it seemed. In this way, the ruins worked to her advantage. Whereas Kaede could afford to change directions on almost a whim, the beast had to make an effort to swing all that weight around, and cutting down on speed to clip corners kept those deadly claws just shy from reaching her.

It was a few precious seconds between life and death, but only just that. She needed to think of a plan; outrunning it would only work for so long, and she wasn’t the most athletic person to begin with. She was already beginning to tire. Her legs burned and her lungs ached—she was so caught up in forcing herself to keep running that she almost didn’t notice that it wasn’t following behind her.

_ Oh god, where is it, where is it! _

She barely had time to panic before the bear burst out of a building in front of her, forcing her to brake at the last moment as she nearly ran straight into it—

_ Shit, it’s too close, what do I do…! _

Sharp fangs glinted as it bared a leering smile down at her, massive paw swinging—

And then a burning tree came crashing down onto the ground between them, blazing in a wall of blue fire.

Kaede yelped. As the flames jumped higher into the air they literally roared in anger—in a voice both eerie and familiar—at the same time that a grisly scream of pain rang out nearby.

This close up the heat should’ve burned her eyebrows off, but Kaede only felt comfortably warm. She could see the bear backing away on the other side of the tree. The flames burned a familiar shade of blue blue blue.

Her mind spun, but she wasn’t gonna waste an opportunity to get away from the beast, no matter who or what it came from. So she took off as fast as possible, tossing a weak, “thank you!” over her shoulder as she ran.

What the heck was going on? She didn’t have time to think too closely about it. The tree would only stop that thing for so long. She needed to find Saihara and Amami and think of a game plan—lose the bear’s trail before it could catch up to them.

“Saihara-kun!” She yelled as loud as she dared. “Amami-kun!”

But it was hard to make out anything in the dead of the night. The moon was only barely strong enough to guide her in the dark, and she couldn’t see any signs of them anywhere close by. She had no idea where to start looking.

She tried again. “Saihara-kun! Amami-kun!”

“Akamatsu-san!”

That was Amami-kun. His voice was faint with distance, but he sounded strong and uninjured. Something in her chest unraveled in relief. “Amami-kun!” She called back. “Where are you, I can’t find you!”

He answered, slightly louder. “Over here!”

“Where?”

“I don’t know! Just, follow the sound of my—_argh_!”

Kaede’s blood turned cold. “Amami-kun!?”

An angry screech rang out from the direction of Amami’s voice, distorted and monstrous. There was another terrible crash.

An ice-cold panic speared through her heart—the beast must’ve heard them calling for each other. Kaede didn’t wait, didn’t think, she just tore off towards where she’d heard him yell, hoping that she was quick enough—hoping that she got there in time to.... Do what, exactly? She was just a pianist, for crying out loud. School had never prepared her for any kind of freak situation like this, trapped in what was essentially a horror story with that… _thing_. The only thing she had on hand was a rusty sword that would probably break in one swing. She doubted even an experienced swordswoman would manage to do any damage before getting ripped to shreds.

Tears welled up in her eyes, as much of fear as they were of frustration. _I have to try. For Amami-kun’s sake, I have to believe there’s something I can do._

She spent so much time psyching herself up for it that she forgot to think of a plan. But it didn’t seem to matter because despite her hurry, she couldn’t find Amami around anywhere. She ran and ran in circles and yet… there wasn’t any fighting going on nearby. No signs of a chase or the beast. There wasn’t even any of that distinctive buzzing—it was like they’d vanished into thin air.

“What…?” She scanned the surrounding area, but there was nothing. “Amami-kun?” She said, and then louder, “Amami-kun, where are you?”

A false alarm maybe?

No. Her hackles stood on edge. Nothing about this felt right.

But no matter how far she searched nothing showed up. Kaede slowed down to a stop, disorientated. The night was quiet, and she stilled, hoping to hear anything, any clue that hinted at Amami-kun’s whereabouts.

In the silence she heard them. It took a moment to place it, but once she had them she was quick to pin down on the voices calling out from a distance away. Normal, unaware, human voices. The others from their group.

_ Oh god. _ She realized in cold horror. _They must be looking for us. They don’t know there’s a monster around, we have to warn them—!_

And then something growled from behind her.

She didn’t have time to move.

_ “Watch out!” _

“Wah!”

The next thing Kaede knew she was being tackled to the ground as something huge sailed past her—sailed _above_ her, sharp teeth snapping shut. Stars burst momentarily across her vision as she hit the ground. She was so disorientated she could only blink up at the pale eyes staring down at her, wide and fearful.

That striking color could only belong to one person. “Saihara-kun…?”

Saihara didn’t bother answering, didn’t even notice the fact that he’d landed on top of her after tackling her. In a flash he peeled himself off and was pulling her up with a panicked fervor that she’d never seen in him before. “Come on, come on!”

“Saihara-kun, what—?”

“Run!” He tugged her along with him before Kaede could make any sense of the situation, hand firmly tangled with hers. “Run, run now!”

The chilly realization struck her like an icicle. There was only one thing out here that could scare him that much. She dared a glance back—

And saw the bear standing a few meters behind them. Those horrifying eyes locked onto them and it grinned, pawing at the ground like a bull with too many teeth.

She hadn’t found Amami. But she had found the bear. Or rather, it had found her.

With a powerful, gleeful howl, it charged.

Panic engulfed her in waves. Kaede picked up her pace until she outran Saihara-kun, and was pulling him ahead instead of the other way around. If they were lucky the headstart they had might have given them enough of an advantage to escape it—

But she was so overcome with fear that she ran too fast. Unable to keep up with her, Saihara tripped, and through their linked hands took her down with him.

_ Shit! Shit! No, no! _

She jerked her head up. The world slowed down for Kaede as she watched the bear’s large bulk bound at them, picking up speed in excitement as it noticed the same thing they did. There was no way they’d be able to get up and outrun it before it got to them. Saihara seemed to come to the same realization. This close up, she could see the whites of his eyes stand out in the dark from sheer terror.

The buzzing picked up until it was unbearably loud, but she could barely hear it over the way her pulse roared in her ears. They had nothing, no help coming, not even a ghost light around to interfere like before. It couldn’t end like this. She wouldn’t let it end like this.

The bear lunged for them, jaws extending. Kaede was moving before her mind had even caught up.

In her distant, detached state, she saw everything happen before her clearly, like she was just an observer watching a movie. She didn’t have time to think. She didn’t have time to fear. In a single, clean movement of her body she leapt to her feet and over Saihara-kun, and as the beast descended upon them she used her momentum to swing her sword out of her sheathe and bring it up into an arc that flew across the bear’s face.

She felt the force of the metal connect with flesh, the jolt traveling up her arm through her bones, and with it the world flooded in on her senses again. Time sped up.

Metal snapped.

Blood splattered on her clothes.

The bear shrieked with pain as it jerked its head and veered off to the side, clipping her with its massive body.

Kaede hit the ground hard with a grunt and hissed in pain as fire shot through her right arm.

The buzzing receded. Disappeared completely.

Something whistled through the air, and she looked up just in time to see the broken blade of her sword embed itself into the ground a distance away.

For a moment, all was quiet.

She was still alive. Saihara-kun was still alive. The monster was nowhere to be seen. Despite the hot throbbing of her arm, Kaede was almost lightheaded at the realization.

Then she heard shuffling, and turned to see Saihara-kun sitting up behind her, covered in dirt and missing his hat and meeting her gaze with wide eyes.

“…Holy crap.” He blurted out.

His expression was so comical that she couldn’t help the short huff of laughter that escaped her. It sounded slightly hysterical, she noted. Saihara-kun didn’t seem to care, clapping a hand to his forehead in shock.

“We’re alive. We’re alive!” His voice cracked. He scrambled to his feet and went to help her up. “Holy crap, Akamatsu-san! That was amazing!”

Kaede tried for a sheepish smile, but it stretched into a grimace as she cradled her arm close. “Thank you, i-it was really nothing.”

“Nothing? _Nothing?”_ Saihara-kun said. “_Akamatsu-san, you drove the monster off._ The one with more teeth than both of us combined? Big as a truck? Claws thicker than my own arm? Any of that ring of a bell? That’s definitely not nothing. I thought we were _dead_, but you. You pulled off a miracle! That was—_amazing_.” He finished faintly.

She tried not to let the pleased curl of pride get to her head. “It’s not over yet,” She reminded him. “I just bought us some time. That thing is still out there and I,” She winced at a fresh wave of pain. “I won’t be able to do that again. We need to—need to move, think of a plan. Amami-kun… was around here earlier, but I couldn’t find him. I was looking around for him when that monster attacked us. Have you seen him?”

“Not since we got separated when the house collapsed.”

Kaede bit her lip. “I think I heard the others calling for us a while ago as well.”

A spark of realization filled Saihara’s eyes. “They must have woken and realized we weren’t there.”

“Yeah. We need to warn them too. They might not even know there’s a monster lurking around here, and if it gets to them before we do….” She swallowed at the thought and shook her head.

Saihara nodded determinately. “What about Amami-kun?”

She faltered. Amami-kun was still out there, most likely alone and worried out of his mind. Hopefully okay, but what she had last heard of him hadn’t sounded promising. She wanted to go look for him, go check if he was okay but… “We find the others first. We can’t afford to separate again and they can help us look for Amami-kun faster.”

_ I’m sorry Amami-kun. Hold on just a little more, and we’ll find you. _

Of course in the end, she shouldn’t have worried.

“Guys!”

Kaede whirled around. There Amami was in the distance, trotting towards them urgently, although not panicked. She almost burst into tears of relief at the sight of him, whole and unharmed.

Saihara smiled weakly. “Amami-kun!”

“There you two are!” He said, voice tight and stressed. “I finally found you. Are you guys okay? You had me so worried, I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Amami-kun,” She sighed, shoulders loosening. “I’m so glad to see you’re alright.”

That took him aback. “I—wish I could say the same for you, Akamatsu-san. Is that blood on your clothes? What happened to your arm?” His wary gaze slid to the blade sticking out of the ground a few meters away. “What happened to your sword?” He nervously placed a hand on his own sword handle.

Kaede looked down at her arm. It didn’t _seem _like it was broken…. Gently, she tried shifting it, and it moved alright until it twisted in a direction that her muscles didn’t like, and she gasped at the spike of pain that locked her arm up momentarily. 

“She broke it using it on the monster.” Saihara said.

Amami started._ “The monster?”_

Kaede breathed deeply. “I’ll explain what happened later okay? We don’t have time for that right now. The others are around here somewhere, I heard them shouting earlier and we need to go and warn them that there’s a giant demon bear from hell in the woods before it catches them unawares—”

Before she could finish her sentence said bear swung at them seemingly out of nowhere—appearing behind them in a second before they could react—and in a single stroke it sent Amami flying into the air.

Saihara screamed.

_ “Amami-kun!” _ Kaede shrieked.

He landed bonelessly a few meters away. But they had no time to worry about him when the bear turned to Saihara and her instead, with a dark, unhurried grin. It knew as well as they did that it had gotten too close for them to even think of running anymore, but they took a step back regardless.

With that same macabre smile, it then locked its gaze on Kaede, and she watched in horror as the bloody gash across its face deliberately re-stitched itself back together in a manner of seconds. 

** Yo ** ** ̸͕͑͂̽̒̾̑̌͘ ** ** ̣u ** ** ̵͍͖̓͂ ** **r̸**** f̶****a̸****n̷̲͗͛̈́͆****g̸̓̋****̞́****s** ** ̶ ** ** a ** ** ̶ ** ** r ** ** ̷ ** ** e ** ** ̷̘͕̈́̑̿̔̕ ** ** ̣ ** ** ͙̳̼̯͉ ** **f̵̟̗͈̙̼̜͔̟̾̌̄̇̒****un̸̲̯̍͘͜****ṅ̴̡̻͇̈****y-du̸̺̥̒****l̸****l̷** It spoke.

She felt so faint she might pass out then and there.

The monster took a step forward. Things happened in very quick succession after that.

Saihara and Kaede broke into a last, desperate run.

The bear didn’t bother chasing after them. Instead it reared back and threw its paw like a grappling hook, stretching unnaturally as if it was made of rubber. Kaede didn’t have any time to react before Saihara-kun shoved her out of the way, and the pain in her arm flared so badly that her vision whited out for a second. When she came to she was on the floor, and the bear had Saihara-kun in its grasp, claws wrapped tight around his torso and pinning his arms to his sides.

It took a moment for Kaede to realize she was screaming above the intense buzzing in the air, like a legion of angry wasps; her own blood pumping loudly in her ears. There was so much noise going on it almost drowned her. “—no! No! Leave him alone! Saihara-kun! Shuichi-kun!”

“Go! Run! Run away, Akamatsu!” Saihara screamed back. She could just about make out the tears in his eyes as he thrashed uselessly. “Go before it’s too late for you!”

If she was smarter, if she was braver, if she was a little less kind and a little more cruel, maybe in another world she would have taken his advice. But Kaede was frozen to the ground, and all she could do was beg and cry and yell hysterically as Saihara was lifted up, up, up into the air, until the beast was dangling him straight above its head.

Its jaws unhinged impossibly wide, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth.

“—No! Don’t do it! Please, _please_—!”

And then Kaede could only wail as it reached up and swallowed him whole.

_ I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! _

But sorry wouldn’t bring her friend back. Sorry wouldn’t rouse Amami-kun from where he was lying, sorry wouldn’t free them all from this nightmare, and all Kaede could do was kneel there and weep as she wondered what kind of dark deed she had done in a past life to deserve this sort of fate.

Through thick tears she saw the outline of the monster turn to her, but she couldn’t muster any fear over it. If she was to become its next victim, she hadn’t the energy to care anymore. At least this way she would reunite with Shuichi soon.

The monster seemed well aware of this. It moved slowly and deliberately as it approached her, a predator closing in on its injured prey for the final blow. Kaede bowed her head and cried her heart out as it outstretched a giant paw towards her….

And then something big and green punched it in the jaw, an upper-cut that nearly toppled the monster straight over.

Kaede’s tears cut off as she watched, wide-eyed, as Gonta followed the punch with another, then another, then another, steadily driving the bear back without giving it a moment to recover. Hands settled over her shoulders, and she looked up at Ryouma’s and Chabashira’s worried faces as they gently helped her to her feet. A few meters away, Shinguuji was wrapping Amami’s limp arms around his shoulders to steady him as they stood.

“What happened here?” Chabashira said dangerously, face full of righteous fury at the sight of her.

“And what the hell is _that_?” Ryouma shot a wild-eyed look at the monster Gonta was fighting.

The thought of explaining it all brought a fresh wave of tears that quickly overwhelmed her. Kaede could barely get out anything intelligible between her sobbing. She vaguely heard the others arguing above her.

“…matsu! Akamatsu-san!”

A new hand fell on her shoulder and shook her violently, but she was beyond caring at the moment. Enough was enough. Ghost lights and holes and monsters and Saihara-kun, oh god, Saihara-kun—!

“—ill alive! Kaede he’s still alive!”

_ What? _ Kaede snapped out of her hysteria. She looked up to see Amami-kun holding her unsteadily, supporting her as much as he was supporting himself. He was pale, and the side of his head was covered with blood but he gestured to the fighting as best as he could despite his tender injuries.

“Look!”

Kaede looked, and through the dark, through her tears, she saw it.

The red of the bear’s right side wasn’t covered in ooze, it _was_ ooze. A thick dripping sludge that she could now see shifted as it moved, and as it moved the gaps between its ribcage opened and closed, revealing a thin layer of pale, transparent membrane that almost glowed from within. On one particularly violent jolt it opened enough to make out the figure within it desperately pushing at its walls, trying to escape.

“He’s… he’s alive.” She said numbly. “He’s alive. He’s alive! You—you have to get him out of there, please!” She turned a pleading gaze on Chabashira-san.

Chabashira hesitated, before squaring her shoulders and nodding grimly.

“I’ll go with you.” Ryouma added.

“Use the swords we brought with us.” Amami-kun added. “T-the strong ones. They’ll help.”

Kaede’s first instinct was to protest—what if they accidentally hit Saihara-kun? But they were helping them both instead of cutting their losses and running, and she couldn’t in good conscious endanger them in that way, not when they couldn’t hold their own against the beast like Gonta could, so she simply said, “Be careful.”

“The three of you better get out of range.” Chabashira said. “If anything goes wrong, you _run_, you hear me?”

“We’ll try.” Shinguuji said. The fact that they had nowhere to run to went unsaid.

Kaede let him herd Amami-kun and her further back, away from the fight, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the others, praying that they succeeded, that she hadn’t just sent more people to their doom with her selfishness.

Chabashira and Ryouma jumped into the fight just in time as Gonta was beginning to tire, and with their swords and athleticism managed to keep the claws from striking them directly, instead deflecting and dodging within an inch of their lives like a beautiful, deadly dance. Chabashira went high where Ryouma went low, twirling in the air and dodging respectively, and with Gonta on a second wind, covering for the both of them as the heavy hitter it was clear that the bear was overwhelmed.

Kaede couldn’t believe it. They weren’t just fighting… they were winning! She clasped her uninjured hand to her chest and dared to hope as she watched them move together like they were of one mind, fighting so efficiently that even a monster of that caliber couldn’t keep up.

Eventually they drove the bear to make its fatal mistake. It made a desperate lunge for Ryouma, but it’s teeth snapped around empty air, putting it in the perfect position for Chabashira to swoop down with a nasty, vengeful kick to the head that brought it crashing down. This in turn gave Gonta the opening he needed to drive a sword through its skull, pinning it to the ground.

Kaede got a deep, dark satisfaction from the way its screams of pain echoed in the night.

But true to its macabre nature, even with the sword embedded up to the hilt in its brain it didn’t die. Instead it twisted its body to lash out at the three of them as they recovered, claws only just barely missing them.

“The swords!” Amami yelled weakly. “Use the swords!”

And so at the next swipe they pinned both paws to the ground as well.

With Gonta and Ryouma keeping an eye on the flailing bear, Chabashira ran to over its side and looked over the sludge anxiously, clearly out of her depth.

“Saihara-kun! We’re going to get you out of there!” She yelled, pulling as much sludge as she could out of the way—not very effective when more fell in to take its place. Ryouma quickly jumped in to free her hands up and she carefully placed the edge of her sword over the shallowest spot she could find. “If you can hear me, move back, okay? I don’t want to hurt you!”

She sank the sword in and started sawing through the beast. It howled in more frustration than pain.

Kaede watched with her heart in her throat. As mean as it sounded her nerves were so on edge that she was just waiting for things to go horribly wrong, but after a few minutes nothing happened, and it became clear that Chabashira was going deeper and deeper. Finally, she let out a yell of triumph and pulled the sword out to sink her arms in as far as she could. “I got him!”

Of course the bear didn't like that. It started thrashing harder. Gonta yelped, and put all his weight on one of the sword hilts running through its paws before it could yank it out. But that still left the other one to attend to, and Ryouma wasn’t heavy enough to keep it in place, although he tried. Without his help, the sludge flooded in around Chabashira’s arms and slowed her down immensely.

_ They’re not gonna get him out in time. _ Kaede realized. Not like this. The three of them wouldn’t be enough. The bear would break free, and then it was anyone's guess whether they managed to pin it down again or not.

So before she could overthink it she left her place beside Shinguuji-kun and Amami-kun and dashed towards the bear, ignoring their protests. She ran full-speed up to Chabashira, and stuck her good arm into the sludge until she hit something solid, grabbed and _pulled_.

“Akamatsu-san, what—!?”

“Pull!” She yelled back, and so Chabashira had no choice but to do so. Between the two of them, they were strong enough to make a difference.

The thrashing increased. The sludge started to bubble dangerously, despite remaining cold and wet.

“Puuull!”

The sludge fought them valiantly, but they were winning. She could feel Saihara’s hands clenching down harder around her wrist as he slowly made his way out. Through her efforts she opened her eyes to see pale hands sticking out of the membrane, clinging painfully to Chabashira’s and her arm.

The bubbling was at a catalyst.

“Puuuuulll!”

With one final heave the beast shrieked, and the sludge exploded outward, enveloping everything in its immediate area. The three of them went flying with the momentum, rolling to a stop a few meters away, and Kaede had to take a moment to recover from the pain, taking in big gulping breaths.

She heard cursing, and the sounds of the fighting resuming, but she was beyond caring at that point. She’d done it, she’d saved Saihara-kun, and all that interested her at that point was getting hell out of dodge. Anything else they could figure out as they went, the rest was up to the others.

She sat up and looked over, but the sight that greeted her…. She froze, and her jaw dropped.

That… wasn’t Saihara-kun.

Although dripping in slime and clearly human, where she’d expected a boy with dark blue hair and dark clothes, there was instead a tiny girl with striking red hair and a puffy skirt, squinting at her through rusty brown eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [jazz hands] it's maagic~  
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aka congratulations, it's a mage!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorrows are shared in a moment of reprieve, but the night isn't over just yet. They won't let themselves be beaten down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was meant to be part of a bigger update that i ultimately didnt want to wait too long to upload, which means next chapter may come out soon-ish since a great part of it is written out already. thanks for your patience and look forward to that!

_Ew, ew, ew, ew…_

Icky, disgusting demon bear stomach slime, Himiko found, was really not conductive to seeing well.

It was cold, and gross, and made her clothes hang heavy and was probably really bad for her skin—she was bound to get at least a few zits out of it if not some weird demon rash outright. It was a sensation that she could have happily lived her entire life without knowing about. Would have preferred not to, even. And now she was covered head to toe in such a thick layer of the stuff that she could barely make out the shape of her own hands, let alone the features of the person right in front of her.

_They’re about the same age as me, maybe?_ She wondered, instead of screaming or crying or throwing up, because analyzing a random stranger was way better than thinking about questionable substances enveloping her body, or about how the source of said questionable substances was only a few meters away, fighting off the figures risking life and limb to keep it occupied.

So a teenager then, but taller than her (which was unsurprising). Chubbier too. With a shock of brilliant yellow falling from their head that had to be blonde hair. And clothes that had probably been originally pristine, and now were dirty and lathered with slime on one sleeve and who-knows-what everywhere else, not that Himiko had any room to judge.

“You’re not Saihara-kun.” She—at least Himiko assumed the feminine voice meant she—said faintly, staring at Himiko incomprehensibly, like she’d grown a second head before her eyes. Which, y’know, fair enough. She was just as shocked; it wasn’t every day you popped out of a demon bear’s side like a bunny out of a magic hat. Except being a bunny wouldn’t be as traumatizing as this was, she was sure.

“And you’re not Angie or Harukawa,” She shot back, trembling violently and desperately wishing she had a coat at hand. A nice, dry one. “I’m Yumeno. W-who are you? Are you here to get us out of this awful place?”

“No, I—I’m guessing the same thing happened to you as it did to us.”

She paused. “You got eaten by a monster too?”

“No, I mean… getting trapped here in this place without an explanation. We’re just normal kids, trying to get out of here same as you, we don’t—we didn’t even know you were inside the bear, we were just trying to save our friend….” Blondie paused, and then looked around frantically, “But you, you came out of there and he didn't—W-where is he?”

That threw her off. “Who?”

“Saihara-kun. The—the boy.” She turned back to Himiko, something tight in the sound of her voice. “There was a boy, he was—he got eaten as well, he should’ve been in the stomach there with you?”

Himiko hesitated. Slime didn't make it easy to see in the first place, and she hadn’t exactly been paying attention to her surroundings in there. “I didn’t see anyone else.” She admitted.

Blondie sucked in a sharp breath at that. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit… If he didn’t get out of there, then…”

They turned around just in time to see something big and green flying their way.

Himiko yelped as Blondie pulled her to the ground, and the figure sailed over them in a blur, slamming into a tree hard enough that Himiko felt the vibrations from where she was lying. Some leaves even dropped onto to her body. The man, for it could only be a man she realized, seemed miraculously unharmed—already he was shaking the shock away and climbing to his feet. But then, given the size of him maybe it wasn’t that astonishing in the first place.

What was more worrying was the fact that with him out of the way, that only left two people to deal with the monster bear. A tall person with long, twin streams of what was probably hair—pigtails maybe? And what looked like… a kid? Both stood their ground bravely against the bear, each holding something metal and shiny at the ready.

Dread sunk into Himiko’s gut as the bear snarled ferociously at them, drawing up to its full height. It was gearing up to be nothing short of a bloodbath….

But then the beast turned tail and ran.

“No!” Blondie cried, scrambling to her feet. “Don’t let it escape! Saihara-kun’s still in there!”

Something about its gait was off. Half of its body seemed deflated, like it couldn’t quite hold itself up right, but even with the disadvantage the others didn’t stand a chance of catching up to the giant beast, let alone dream of stopping it. Himiko watched with a heavy heart as the white and red blur disappeared into the town ruins, and with it presumably, their friend.

(Wait, red? Hadn’t its other half been pink, though—?)

Blondie would’ve have followed right after if Pigtails wasn’t there to stop her. “What are you doing? Chabashira, let me go! It's getting away! I have to get Saihara-kun back!”

“And how are you going to do that? Akamatsu-san, you’re injured, you can’t just run off all by yourself!” Pigtails—Chabashira? argued. “Please be patient! We need to treat everyone’s wounds! Even if he is a degenerate male we’ll definitely get Saihara-kun back soon, I promise! Just. Stop! Just for a moment, please!”

“We’ll catch up to it in no time at all Akamatsu-san.” Someone else called out, right behind Himiko. She jumped and looked up to see a blurry blob of a person made of blues and greens, although holding himself up awkwardly, and stained in places with red as bright as her hair. “We've got it on the run and it's wounded, that’s a good sign. And the bear left a slime trail, look. We c-can… track it down through that, don’t worry.”

Whether it was through the state of his injuries or his logic, he seemed to finally convince her. Akamatsu struggled only a bit more before sinking to her knees in Chabashira's arms, defeated.

“O-okay. Okay.” She said against the other girl’s shoulder, just barely audible. “We’ll rest, just for a moment. Just… someone keep an eye out okay? Make sure it doesn’t catch us off guard if it comes back again.”

With that, everyone else settled down to check over injuries and make sure no one was too seriously hurt. Himiko watched wordlessly as Chabashira tended to Akamatsu, making what she assumed was a sling for her arm out of the green fabric on her head. Everyone else had gathered in little groups as well to tend to each other. Himiko must have made quite a sight among them, dripping with so much slime that a puddle was gathering underneath her. She’d never felt so useless or alone.

_I hope Angie and Harukawa are doing okay._ From the looks of it, the monster hadn’t eaten them, so she had to believe that they’d escaped it before it moved on to other victims. With any luck they’d stay safe until she could reunite with them again.

“Um, excuse me.” Himiko looked up to see Chabashira standing in front of her. She must have been done with Akamatsu. “Hello. Tenko’s name is Chabashira Tenko.”

“M’ Himiko. Yumeno Himiko.” She answered glumly.

“Nice to meet you, Yumeno-san.” Chabashira bowed politely. “Um, Tenko doesn’t mean to be rude but… you look like you’d have a hard time getting all that gunk off yourself. Would you like any help?”

Himiko touched a hand to her face unwittingly, and grimaced when all that did was draw a trail of slime to her fingers as she pulled away. “Cleaning up completely would probably take too long. But if you could just help me clear my face that would be great, please.”

“Right.”

Himiko tried not to feel too humiliated as Chabashira crouched down and proceeded to wipe at her face with a sleeve like she was a toddler. It couldn’t be helped. At least this way her face was finally clean, or as clean as it could be without any access to soap or water nearby. And she could see now too! Always a plus.

“There we go!” Chabashira said brightly, pulling back. “Much better, isn’t it! Do you need anything else? Any injuries you’d like Tenko to check over?”

“No… I’m okay, thanks.” She mustered a small, grateful smile for Chabashira, and glanced around her surroundings. The small green-guy was being tended to by tall person and the tiny kid (who was smaller than even _her_). Big green-man was walking around the scene, collecting what Himiko was now realizing were _swords_, although where this group had picked them up from she had no idea. That explained how they’d managed to hold their own against the monster, at least.

Akamatsu had wandered off a distance away from the rest of the group, having spotted a lone black cap lying on the ground, forgotten in the midst of the chaos. She picked it up with her good hand, and dust it off with a gentle care and tenderness that was at great odds with the growing sadness in her eyes. Considering that the cap didn’t match her outfit at all, Himiko had a pretty good idea of who it actually belonged to.

She jerked her head away, feeling as if she’d intruded on a private moment. “He really meant a lot to her, huh?” Her insides twisted with guilt. “I-I’m so sorry. I really didn’t see your friend. The slime was—If I’d known he was in there with me, I would’ve—”

“Don’t worry about it.” Chabashira told her. Himiko opened her mouth to disagree but she went on, “No, listen to Tenko, okay? What happened wasn’t your fault.”

Himiko kept her eyes to the ground. “But—”

“It's okay, Yumeno-san. It really wasn’t your fault. We had no way of knowing that you were in there along with him, and expecting you to have kept a level head and do anything besides survive would be asking too much of you. Of anyone, really. Tenko hasn’t known Akamatsu long, but Tenko can see she’s a very kind person. She understands you’re not to blame, I'm sure. Even Saihara-kun… degenerate male though he may be, he wouldn’t want you feeling guilty over it either.”

Himiko nodded, feeling small nonetheless. All of it was correct, technically, but she couldn’t quite shake the belief that had it been anyone else, Saihara might be standing there with them in that moment.

Her feelings must’ve shown clear on her face. Chabashira faltered for a moment, and then she squared her shoulders, stern. “Listen. Tenko needs to go check on the others for a bit—you can’t trust boys to take care of an injury properly, and Amami-kun looked especially bad… but Akamatsu-san could really use someone to talk to, and so could you, I think. Why don’t you keep each other company while I’m busy?”

Yeah, right, and say what? Sorry that some tiny stranger might have gotten your best friend digested by a literal freak of nature? Himiko opened her mouth to turn down her request—

But Chabashira bulldozed right past her._ “Great!”_ She clapped her hands with a bright smile, betrayed only by the drop of sweat running down her temple. “Thank you for agreeing to do this for me! Tenko will be right over there if you need anything, okay? I shouldn't take long. Good luck!”

And so Himiko watched her walk off before she could lift a finger in protest.

_Geez, what a pain._ But in a way she could see where Chabashira was coming from. In a situation such as this one, it’d be even more of a pain to have any bad blood festering between the group, and this was really the only opportunity they had to straighten out where everyone stood before they jumped right back into the action. Plus, Chabashira had really helped her out with the slime despite not having to, so she guessed she owed it to her to play nicely.

Himiko gave herself five seconds to feel nervous and disgusting and unprepared before she swallowed down her anxiety and walked towards where Akamatsu was standing.

Even if she’d made the effort, Himiko couldn’t mask the sound of her approaching. The squelching of her clothes as she moved was too awkwardly loud for that. It didn’t make for the most composed entrance. The best she could do was gather the remaining pieces of her dignity and hope that Akamatsu would take pity on her and pointedly not comment on it. But Akamatsu very carefully didn’t react as she made it to her side. She didn’t even look up from the hat, studying it intensely.

“Can I ask you something Yumeno-san?” She suddenly said, before Himiko could think of anything to break the silence.

“Err… sure.”

“How did you end up in that bear’s stomach? Did it… eat you too?”

Himiko blinked up at her. Akamatsu’s face was round and kind, but this close up she could also see it was taut with stress. Her nose was smeared with leftover snot, her eyes rimmed with red, and her blotchy cheeks were stained with tear-tracks that still glistened in the moonlight. The rest of her was in much of the same state; her arm hung limply in the makeshift sling, her clothes were dirty and rumpled (was that _blood?)_ and her hair was flying all over the place. Himiko’s throat clenched at the sight—she looked so worried for whoever that Saihara-guy might be. Did Angie and Harukawa look the same way for her? It was a little selfish, but she hoped so.

“Yeah.” Himiko coughed. “Me and my friends were sleeping when it suddenly attacked out of nowhere. It caught me when we ran and then….” She shivered at the memory.

“But you survived.” Akamatsu went on doggedly. “Assuming it attacked you before it found us, you must’ve been stuck in there for a while, weren’t you?”

“I… think so?” It hadn’t _felt_ like she’d been in there too long… but then again, she’d been so wrapped up in her panic that she hadn’t exactly been keeping track of time. One moment she’d been trapped in a round cavern full of slime and the next it’d been sliced open and some strangers were pulling her out.

“And you could breathe in there, couldn’t you? There had to have been some amount of air around that slime, otherwise you would’ve drowned or suffocated, right?”

Something glinted in her eyes so intensely that it sent a shiver down Himiko’s spine. “I-I guess?”

Akamatsu seemed determined to ask her more about it, grill her up and down so she could cling to any possibility that Saihara would still be alive when they rescued him…

But one look at Himiko’s strained expression and she realized what she was doing. She backed off, ashamed.

“Oh g-geez, I’m so sorry. I’m pretty terrible—I’ve been so busy worrying about Saihara-kun that I completely forgot you’re a victim too. That was so insensitive. All of that stuff with the bear must have been awful for you, and here I am dragging it up… are you okay? You’re not injured anywhere, are you?”

At least she was self-aware enough to recognize her faults. And she seemed pretty sincere about her apology too. Himiko’s heart softened. She couldn’t really blame Akamatsu for trying to find reassurance where she could get it, not after going through such an awful experience with her friend. Holding a grudge was too much work anyway. Any annoyance she harbored the taller girl faded, and she forgave her at once.

“Nyeh, I’m fine. I’m not hurt.” Shaken maybe, but the only thing that could be said to be injured was her pride, at the most. She just really _really_ needed some new clothes. And a hot shower or ten. Badly. “And… don’t worry about it. It’s been a pretty sucky night. If it was me I’d be the same way, probably.”

That startled a laugh out of Akamatsu. “Yeah it has been pretty sucky, hasn’t it?”

Himiko nodded passionately. “The suckiest.”

That got a small smile out of Akamatsu. It disappeared again a second later when she frowned in thought, mulling her words over. “…You mentioned you were with some friends earlier. Are they the same names you said when we pulled you out of the sludge?”

“Angie and Harukawa, yeah.” Himiko chewed on her lip. “We found each other after we all woke up alone. We agreed to stick together for safety, but that didn’t end up mattering very much in the end. The demon-bear was way above our XP levels, so we didn’t stand a chance when it showed up.” _Maybe if I hadn’t been so slow…._ She tried not to feel too bitter about it.

“Well it wasn't a bad plan.” Akamatsu mused. “There’s just not much you can actually do to fight off a monster like that, especially when it catches you off guard and without any equipment to defend yourself with. But maybe it’ll work better with a bigger group. Ten people should make much more of a difference than three. It _is_ a little strange though, that we didn’t run into you before. We spent the whole day walking all over town, you’d think we would have spotted each other before now.”

“Harukawa can be pretty sneaky, I guess.” She was the only one who’d bothered exploring the town itself, so she was the most likely candidate to have seen other people, Himiko supposed. Although Harukawa hadn’t made any mention of other people around when they’d been planning, and that seemed like the sort of detail she’d take into consideration, so maybe she hadn’t known either. “And besides, we weren’t really staying in the town proper. We were down by the shore.”

Akamatsu stilled. “The shore.”

“Yeah, the river shore that’s somewhere around uh… someplace close by. There’s a trail on the edge of town that takes you down right to it. Didn’t you see it?”

“No… I, I had no idea.” She shook her head. “Do you think they’re still around there?”

Himiko shrugged glumly. “Probably not. They probably would’ve moved on after the bear attack, and we weren’t planning on hiding there forever. We only stayed the night to wait in case someone came to rescue us, but Harukawa wanted to gather supplies and move on tomorrow if we weren’t found by then.”

“Oh. Oh….”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Akamatsu hesitated, and explained in a rush, “It’s just… we, we tried that already and it didn’t work. There’s this weird stone wall out there, deeper into the forest and… it’s really weird, but very big and intimidating. It fences in the entire town; you can’t climb over it, you can’t dig under it and there’s no gate or hole that you can go through. We walked alongside it for as long as we could and as far as we can tell the whole thing's impassable. I doubt your friends will be able to get through.”

Himiko’s stomach sank further and further with the news. “Then…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Akamatsu said firmly. “You said that there’s a river, right? Then that means we do have a means of escape after all. When we’re all back together we can work on a way to cross it and… hopefully… leave this place and that horrible monster far, far behind us. It’ll be a problem for whoever rescues us.”

Himiko nodded eagerly, heart beating fast. Maybe they had a chance at surviving after all.

“That sounds like a good plan.” Chabashira said as she approached. She looked relieved at the news. “Tenko is all for it. Also Akamatsu-san, Tenko just wanted to let you know that everyone’s done now.”

“That’s great, how are they doing?”

“Better than it could’ve been.” She grimaced. “Bruises and scrapes, mostly. Gonta-kun’s back is tender, but he’s okay. You and Amami-kun are the worst off. I think you just might have a sprained elbow. He has a concussion and a few other injuries I’m not too sure about. Some ripped-out piercings. A twisted shoulder for sure. _Maybe_ some broken bones. He definitely needs a doctor.” She winced in sympathetic pain. “Honestly Tenko’s kind of worried about bringing him along with us.”

“I agree, but there’s nowhere safe to leave him behind either. We can take turns carrying him but….” Akamatsu bit her lip. “And we have another problem too. Yumeno-san says that her friends are around here somewhere. It might be a good idea to go looking for them as well. They’re just two people, they’re more vulnerable than we are to another bear attack.”

“What do we do then? Should we split up?”

“Umm…” Akamatsu looked unsure, glancing between Chabashira and her.

If there was one thing Himiko knew from horror movies, it was that splitting up was usually the very thing that got everyone killed in the first place. No, best to avoid that if they could. It couldn’t be helped. She took a deep breath. “Let’s go after your Saihara-guy first.” She offered.

Akamatsu’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

The thought of her friends all alone out there in the dark scared her so, so much. Who knew what other things could be lurking out there. But… “He’s the one in most danger right now.” She insisted. “Harukawa is really sharp, and so is Angie—now that they know what’s out there, they’ll be more careful about catching that bear’s attention. They can take care of themselves. I know they’ll be okay until we can go look for them again, so let’s go after your friend.” And maybe if she told herself that enough times she could even believe it. There wasn’t much else she could do besides have enough faith that they would all survive long enough to see each other again.

Akamatsu, to her credit, saw right through her. But she didn’t say anything about it, and instead nodded gratefully. “That’s what we’re doing then. We’ll rescue Saihara-kun first.”

She spared one last glance at the lonely little hat, dusty and dirty and unwillingly abandoned by its owner, then smiled grimly at the both of them—Himiko, standing tall and unwavering in spite of the state of her clothes; and Chabashira, who looked ready to kick ass and take names even after surviving a round fighting a demon bear. The rest of them looked just as determined as they gathered closer; even Amami looked animated as possible from his spot on Gonta’s back. With the rising wave of resolve shared wordlessly between them, Akamatsu slipping the cap onto her head felt like the natural next-step to take.

Himiko approved. It felt right on her. It sat snugly like a good luck charm, like a declaration, a vow of better times to come.

“Let’s go hunt some monsters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :')
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprises abound in every corner. Things get complicated, and their survival becomes just that much harder to ensure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👏**THIS IS PART ONE OF A DOUBLE UPDATE!**👏 remember to read the next chapter after you finish this one!
> 
> warning for iruma being iruma, innuendo and swearing included lmao, and some bits of emetophobia! its not super super explicit, but if you wanna avoid any descriptions feel free to skip the one paragraph that starts with 'Whether from fear or disgust' near the end

It was hard to swallow back tears when the very air that engulfed oneself was heavy and hollow.

All Angie could do was pray to her god for strength, as she followed Maki up the steep incline of the hill. Strength, and perhaps some tissues as well, to deal with the snot trying to escape her runny nose. Despite her best efforts, it was a poor distraction from the events that had happened only a few hours previous. She wanted to scream, to howl her poisonous sorrows into the night, and fill in the void ripped open by their lost companion, but no matter how much the situation warranted it, she knew it was not the time to do so. Not unless she wanted to die in the same way.

Poor Himiko. That poor, innocent girl. Angie had quite liked her in the short time they’d known each other, but now she was to never to breathe or talk or smile ever again, all because her life had been stolen by an evil monster from hell, eaten alive in the same time it took a camera lens to capture a picture.

If only Angie had done better, could there have been any way for Himiko to survive too? She didn’t know. She couldn’t have known what would happen, that this would be a place of misery and death, far from god’s loving reach. That devil-bear had crashed in like a wave of death, and just like a wave there’d been nothing they could have done to stop it from killing Himiko. Angie couldn’t even grieve her properly, because now the greedy thing was after them as well, and it’d taken everything they’d had to lose its trail and then some. She didn’t think she’d ever think about the color pink the same way ever again.

It was awful, and terrible and horribly scary. Angie couldn’t stop shivering in the warm night, and her blurry eyesight made climbing an even harder feat to accomplish in the dark. If only she was better at pushing down her emotions. It always made god incredibly sad to see her cry. Angie tried to find solace in the fact that Himiko was now safe in their warm embrace, far from any pain or danger.

Up ahead Maki was seemingly unsympathetic to her plight, moving at a brisk pace that Angie could only just barely keep up with, and pointedly not looking at her. Angie knew better though. Maki was good at hiding it, to her credit, but Angie could tell that there was something desperate and hard in the stone-cold set of the other girl’s shoulders, and that Maki had already proven to be far too athletic to be breathing as hard as she was from the climb. She wished she could offer some degree of comfort, but she wasn’t sure what to say, or if she even should.

Eventually they made it to the town Maki had said was there. It was a desolate silence that greeted them, that carved deep shadows into the buildings, sharpened the branches of the trees and made it all look endless and intimidating. They ducked into one such old building and found a decent corner to hide in. The break should’ve made it easier to calm herself down, but instead Angie just found it harder to hold back her tears.

Maki recovered faster. Angie could just about make her out as she shuffled awkwardly in the dark. “…Hey.”

Angie’s breath caught.

“It’ll be okay.”

Angie’s throat tightened. She closed her eyes against the stinging in her eyes. “Will it? Angie wishes she could believe that.”

There was a heavy pause. “It’s okay to be scared,” Maki said slowly. “But I won’t let that bear get either of us. We just have to hold on until we can reach the castle, and then we’ll be safe.”

Angie sniffed.

“You think you can stay brave enough for that?”

She wiped her tears away angrily, and tried not to let her voice waver too much. “Angie doubts it’ll be that easy. How do we know we’ll even find what we’re looking for? Or that the fire-ball was telling the truth at all?”

That kept Maki quiet for a long while. “We don’t.” She finally admitted. “But it is a possibility, isn’t it? Our chances aren’t zero, at least. That’s all we can hope for right now.”

Angie didn’t reply, but that seemed to suit Maki just fine. With her piece said, she sank back down into her corner quietly, shadows settling around her like a cloak. Her presence was more comforting than Angie would admit, but she couldn’t help but clasp her hands and shoot off one last prayer to the heavens for luck. Something to keep them all safe and sound. Something that would tip the scales just that tiny bit more in their favor.

_O’ my beautiful, divine god, you who have always cast a watchful eye over this humble servant of yours... no matter how undeserving, I beg that you listen to my pleas. Himiko deserved a happy life, so give her spirit peace and comfort, and look after these lost children of yours, for we shall surely need it in the troublesome times to come._

Then that awful roar pierced through the air nearby, far too close for comfort, and there was no more time to rest.

* * *

If there ever was such a thing as a hell on earth, Kaito was sure that this was it.

“What the hell is that? _What the hell is that?_” Miu shrieked over and over as they fled, running past stairs and hallways that warped and bended like twisted light. It was an excellent question to ask in the moment, but Kaito wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. After all, there was no good explanation for a giant monster-looking bear like that to be chasing them around what was essentially a haunted castle.

It was his own personal nightmares come to life.

The whole thing had started back when they’d been staring out at a physical impossibility. How do you fix a collapsed roof in a matter of minutes? It sounded like a riddle, or the start of a bad joke from Kaito’s old man. And yet it was the question the three of them found themselves seriously facing as they looked out a window to what _should’ve_ been open air, but was instead a normal, unassuming roof. It made absolutely no sense—he’d seen it crumble into tiny little pieces under his own feet. And yet there it was, standing disturbingly strong and unbroken as if he’d hallucinated the whole thing.

Iruma had been absolutely fascinated with the mystery, rambling about applications of advanced technology—so caught up in her theories of visual effects and staging and some other such nonsense that she’d almost climbed out of the window had they not stopped her. But personally Kaito couldn’t agree with her theories. Something about it all was… not quite right. He’d kept his misgivings to himself though. Despite whatever other people thought about him, he _could_ admit sometimes that he could get carried away with his fears and superstitions, plus they didn’t really have the time to argue the particulars of how a roof could suddenly reconstruct itself out of nothing, so they’d moved on.

It’d only gotten better, or should he say worse, from there. It’d already been dusk when they found Tojo, and the further they moved, the darker the night grew, until they could barely see a few steps ahead of them as they wandered around. They’d been quick to realize that they were taking much longer to get out of the place than it would’ve taken usually. The hallways seemed to go on for an eternity, given to bends and twists that Kaito was pretty sure was leading them in circles. The windows kept the same views of the outside, and it didn’t seem to matter how many flights of stairs they went down, because there was no indication that they would reach ground level anytime soon no matter how long they walked for. It was like they hadn’t even moved at all. It’d taken no time at all for them to grow really uneasy. Things kept _happening_ around them that couldn’t have any rational sort of explanation.

Shoji that slid open and closed without a touch.

Ominous, wooden creaking.

A heavy sense of unease that wouldn’t go away no matter what they did or where they went.

Cold spots, moving shadows, unexplainable whispers in the dark—

It was _nerve wracking_. The only good thing about spending so long in a haunted castle was that Kaito eventually grew accustomed enough to shove the fear down and _think_. And it _was_ haunted, no matter how much Iruma protested otherwise. As a man of science Kaito could understand her reservations about writing a phenomenon off as supernatural, but when they were jumping at spooks and specters at every corner that seemed to defy the laws of reality, technology could only explain so much.

But although there was indeed something fishy about the castle, they hadn’t encountered anything actively malicious, and so after a while Tojo suggested that perhaps it would be a good idea to find a safe corner to sleep in and try again in daylight. And as much as Kaito hated the idea of staying overnight in such a creepy place, there wasn’t much else they could _do_. Without any other options to offer, he’d caved and agreed with her. They’d settled down in the closest corner they could find without any dangerous holes...

...Only to wake up when the whole room started to shake, trying its damnedest to knock everything over in the world’s most surreal earthquake. Kaito had been half-afraid the whole castle would collapse entirely under the force of it. He _knew_ all the safety procedures, how could he not as a Japanese citizen? But never anything like this, where the walls and floors undulated like waves, furniture dancing around and doors slamming open and shut like they’d grown a mind of their own. He didn’t think any of the usual advice applied to a situation like this.

And then the enormous, monstrous demon bear had shown up, and any lingering composure remaining went flying out of the window, and they’d fled.

“Quick, over here!” Kaito said, taking the right on a fork in the hallways. He came running back out in seconds and took off in the other direction. “Never mind! Dead end! Dead end!”

“Hurry up, hurry _up_ the fucker’s gaining on us!”

“I’m trying!”

“This way!”

But no matter where they ran, it was never enough to shake the beast. Every second it spent chasing them was a second closer to _catching_ them—they needed to think of something quick before they were sliced to ribbons. He could hear it howling madly with delight from behind them, the warped buzzing carrying eerily through the castle walls. They turned another corner.

_There!_

It was but a moment of blindness from the bear. Kaito didn’t have enough time to think it through, but his gut told him to do it anyway. So instead of running ahead he went straight for the closet door standing in the middle of the hallway, and proceeded to shove Tojo and Iruma inside it before it could catch onto them.

He slapped a hand onto Iruma’s screeching mouth with a frantic shush. Tojo caught onto what he was doing faster, and held her breath.

They all hunkered down in the closet, deathly quiet and scared out of their minds. The lack of light made the pounding of the bear’s feet that much louder as it approached at a rapid pace, drawing closer and closer and closer still; Kaito felt like his heart was going to give them away, it was beating so loudly—

But after a few hair-raising moments, it flew past their door, and kept running until it’d disappeared into the rest of the building, and the buzzing faded away.

Kaito should have been relieved. Maybe he was, but it was hard to tell when the fear left him dizzy and wrung out as it washed out of his shaky body, almost to the point of numbness. His muscles _ached_ something fierce, like he’d just spent the last hour squeezing into a tiny little box instead of running and hiding for his life. Not even his workout routines left him feeling this tired, and they were way more intense.

They stayed hidden for a while after, until it no longer felt like that thing would come rushing back at them as soon as they twitched wrong. For a long time, the only sound in the dark was that of their own breathing as it calmed. Then finally, Kaito dared to break the silence.

“Told ya the castle was haunted.”

A pause.

“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE.” Iruma bellowed, and then proceeded to somehow sock him hard in the shoulder despite the darkness.

_“Ow!”_

“_That’s _what you took away from that!? Yes, ohmygod, you were right alright? Congratulations, you totally called it! The castle is indeed haunted! Excuse me if I’m too busy trying not to get a new asshole teared open to give you an award!”

“Dammit woman! No need to be such a bitch about it….”

“Don’t say stupid shit then or I’ll be as much of a bitch as I like! ‘Told ya the castle was haunted’, what are you, _five_?”

He felt his face heat up and was thankful she couldn’t see it. “I-I’m not! You don’t see any five year olds walking around with goatees like mine, do you!”

“Oh of course, forgive me! I didn’t realize that was a goatee—it looks more like hairy goat shit you forgot to wipe off your face!”

_Goat shit!?_ “Okay, that’s it, you—!”

“Are you two quite done?” Tojo cut in, exasperation evident in her tone. “May I remind you there’s still a murderous monster out there looking for us. It’d probably be in our best interests to move on before it hears your hollering and comes running to kill us all.”

That shut them up.

Outside, the walls and floors of the castle still undulated bizarrely, but without the monster’s direct presence to influence it, it seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Less ‘stormy waves rocking a boat’ and more ‘ripples on an old TV screen’, Kaito felt. It certainly made it easier to walk on, but the implications were somewhat disconcerting. The three of them snuck away in the opposite direction from where the bear had gone as quietly as they dared, only to break out into a low trot as soon as they felt they were far away enough.

It was a cleaner escape than Kaito expected. Sure the ambiance was extremely creepy in the middle of the night, and they had to move carefully to avoid falling down holes or tripping on the plant life running wild amidst the floors, but it wasn’t as nerve-racking as their chase had been earlier. All signs of hauntings had calmed down, and were it not for the strange waves still rippling through the walls Kaito would’ve thought they’d disappeared completely.

Somehow it made him nervous. It felt too easy. They should’ve met some amount of resistance as they wandered around—doors that wouldn’t open, or broken stairs or _something_. But the hallways remained as silent as the grave, and as far as he could tell there was no sign of that bear around anywhere. Nothing but stale air, creaking floorboards and heavy, oppressive quiet. He could swear he could hear his own blood pumping through his veins in the stillness.

The restlessness grew and grew until he thought he would burst. Something had to give eventually, but he had no idea what, and the anticipating of it was killing him. He was so nervous it felt like he’d die of a heart-attack long before anything actually happened. A glance at Tojo and Iruma told him they seemed similarly affected.

Just then a chilling roar echoed through the hallways, and Kaito startled so hard he nearly jumped out of his own skin. But a few seconds passed by and nothing happened, the bear was nowhere to be seen, so why had it—?

A human scream followed right after, and the ice-cold shock in his chest twisted into a different kind of fear.

“Shit, there’s some other poor bastard stuck here with us!?” Iruma exclaimed, clutching at her hair.

“Oh dear…” Tojo paled.

And the bear had found the unlucky soul, too. “We have to help them!” He blurted out, and took off running in the direction of where the screaming had come from. The waves, he noted, were becoming aggravated again.

“Woah, woah, _woah_, hold on—!”

“Momota-san, wait—!”

Kaito wasn’t listening. Out there somewhere along these walls there was someone in trouble, and what kind of hero would he be if he didn’t at least help out? That was not the type of Luminary of the Stars he wanted to be. Surely there had to be something they could _do_.

He really should have thought it through more.

Kaito was so focused on reaching the person in danger that he forgot to take his surroundings into account. Running beyond another split corridor, he’d only made it a few steps past before the girls behind him yelled in alarm, and he skidded to a stop and turned around to see an alarming sight before him.

Out of the other hallway walked out the bear, blocking the space between him and the two of them with its enormous navy body. They were frozen to the spot as its head swung curiously between the three of them, as if trying to decide what to do with them.

Then it seemed to come to a conclusion, and it’s face wrinkled into a snarl as it took an intimidating step towards the girls.

“No!” Kaito moved without thinking, swinging a punch with all his might at its blue fur.

_Splat!_

Er… not exactly fur after all. What the hell was that? It felt cold and goopy like mud, but the consistency somehow managed to stay distinctly bear-shaped without anything to contain it.

“Eugh,” Momota wrinkled his nose in disgust, and gave it a tug to yank his arm out, but it refused to budge. “Uh... Uh oh.”

The bear shifted in place, and Momota was forced to move with it as it turned its head to glance at him from the corner of its left eye, one that was lit up with brilliant blue energy that twisted up into the air like smoke. It sneered.

“Uh oh? What do you mean ‘Uh oh’? What the hell did you do!?” Iruma yelled from the other side.

“I-I’m kind of… I’m kind of stuck. In the bear.” Kaito gulped. The monster bear was so big that it nearly took up the whole hallway, but from this angle he could see Iruma’s and Tojo’s horrified gazes. “Guys? A little help here, please?”

“And what the fuck do you want us to do about it?” Iruma squawked, eyes wide.

“I don’t know, but you better think of something fast!” The pressure around his arm seemed to get tighter, more compact, as the sludge was fastening its grip on him. He tugged harder.

It didn’t seem to help any. If anything he was just sinking in deeper and deeper. His heart started to pound wildly.

“Let go you stupid bear!” A sudden yank pulled him in up to his elbow in an almost playful manner. “Stop it! Let go of me!”

The bear cackled, delighted.

Arms corded with firm muscle wrapped around his torso. “H-hold on big guy!” Iruma’s voice said from behind him. He craned his neck to see her holding onto him, and Tojo holding onto her from behind, like a human chain. “Pull!”

Kaito winced as they pulled back as hard as they could, joining in with them, but despite their efforts his arm barely budged, and the degree at which his muscles were stretched in both directions started to become painful.

The bear didn’t bother to fight them, content to watch them struggle in vain to pull Kaito out of its side. It boomed a dark laugh right next to his ear, like it was all just a funny joke to it. In a way it probably was. It probably thought them too weak to actually succeed, and remained sadistically amused by their meager little attempts.

He felt the arms around him readjust and tighten. “Puulll!”

This time he thought he felt something give away, but the bear clearly noticed it as well. The pressure around his arm tightened to a point that almost squeezed at his arm, and the bear pulled back, mocking their efforts like a bully with a favored toy. Kaito cried out as he was forced to follow along with the motion, and at the end of the chain Tojo lost her grip and fell to the floor.

“Guys!” He shrieked, sinking up to his bicep.

“Crap! Hold on! Hold on, don’t give up just yet!” Iruma said, struggling to hold onto him. “Pull!”

Kaito just barely caught the sound of Tojo sucking in a breath. “No, don’t pull! Push!”

_“What?”_

“Push! Hurry and push! Do it now!”

That would only shove Kaito further into the sludge! His voice shriveled with panic, “Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

“Trust me!” Tojo said. She flew forward to stick both of her hands in the sludge, pressing hard against it even though her arms were quick to sink in to her elbows.

Kaito had no other choice but to do as she said. He planted his feet on the floor and put his legs into it as he _pushed_, and Iruma let go from behind him to join in on the other side.

The bear yelped, figuratively and literally taken aback by their change in strategy. The three of them together were strong enough to force to stumble back before it could compensate for the shift in its center of gravity, taking unsteady steps that quickened as they kept up both pace and pressure.

Kaito’s pulse roared in his ears as he sank further and further into the bear, doing his best to keep his head out of the sludge as he kept pushing, now shoulders deep. _C’mon, c’mon, please work, whatever this is please work!_

His fingers hit something much more solid than the sludge, firm but gelatinous enough that he knew he might start to sink into that too with enough pressure, but he barely had any time to think about what he was touching before the bear’s hind legs reached the hole in the floorboard Tojo’s sharp eyes had caught.

With the three of them still pushing, it didn’t stand a chance of recovering its balance—it plunged backwards into the hole with a howl. Stuck to the bear as they were, the three of them followed after, and they all screamed as gravity dragged them down mercilessly into the dark.

It was only mere moments before the floor rushed up to greet them, and Kaito braced himself for impact before—

_Crash!_

The heavy weight of the monster hit the other floor first. The force of the collision was such that not only did they dislodge them from its side, but the rotten wood underneath them broke as well, and monster and teenagers and debris all plummeted onto the next empty floor before they could react.

Or… not so empty after all, Kaito had a split second to realize, as blue eyes on a pale face burst into view, staring up in shock as he rushed up to meet Kaito, or perhaps it was the other way around—

And there was pain, and he knew nothing but stars.

* * *

_“…”_

…

_“Hey… how’re you doing?”_

_…_

_“Listen. I wanted to ask you… What are our chances? Do you really think that this’ll work?”_

_…_

_“It’s a lot to take in, huh? These might be the last of our days together if we don’t get this right…. It’s such a big gamble to take, you know? I don’t know if we’re ready for this. Or if we’ll ever be.”_

_…_

_“U-um, that is to say, no pressure or anything! I know I’m not supposed to be depressing about it if I can help it, sorry. L-let’s just. Try not think about it then. We have too much work to do anyways!”_

_…_

_“Augh, but I can’t just _not_ think about it either! I really… really want to believe that this’ll work. We’ve gone through so much for it, how could it not? But… I know now that real life doesn’t work that way at all…. This ain’t any sort of happy lil fairy tale.”_

_…_

_“Heh, of course, you’d know about that better than me.”_

_…_

_“You know… whether it does or not… I… I still believe that...we’ll all…that we some...day….”_

_…_

_“...Have…ev..er…heard…fr...en…nd…ea...ch…o...ther…?”_

_“…”_

_“……….”_

_“…………………”_

_“…………………………………………”_

_“……………………………………………………………………………..”_

* * *

“…omota…?”

…

“..omota……momo…un…”

…

“…ay…omethin……ear me?...ai...to-kun..!”

_…Ow._

For a long moment, Kaito knew nothing but paralyzing bursts of pain and high-pitched ringing. He was limp yet flying, tumbling yet still, nothing and everything all at once as the ceiling and floor swirled around in a chaotic dance that threatened to empty what little he had in his stomach. He almost assumed they’d gotten caught up in another weird earthquake; the sight was so disorientating.

But reality seemed to finally come to an agreement before long, and it righted itself back into its proper place, faint shapes merging together to take the form of a single figure looking down at him, stark white against the dark.

“Are you okay?” It said.

“Gh-ghost!” He shrieked, and jerked up to back away—

“Ah! Hold on!”

—only quickly realize what a bad idea that was. Ohhhh god. Between the spotty vision and white-hot pain shooting up his back Kaito was almost surprised he didn’t black out again. He groaned and doubled over, spit gathering inside his mouth.

“Easy, easy!”

Kaito barely noticed the weight of hands settling down on his shoulder, grounding him. It was only once he felt stable enough that he looked up once more to see the ghost hovering over him. He stiffened.

“No, don’t freak out, it’s okay!” It pulled its hands away from his shoulders to place them on his own. “I’m not a ghost, see? No need to worry!”

The hands grasping his own were far more solid and warmer than he’d thought they’d be, for something that was supposed to be dead. _Oh, so not a ghost after all_. Kaito thought faintly, gaze meeting sky-blue eyes framed by white hair. _Oops._

“Though it’s not for a lack of trying,” The gho—the boy added ruefully, rubbing at his head with a wince. There was a big old bruise that was starting to form in the middle of his cheek, and the bottom of his lip was split. “Just what on earth were you doing that caused you to fall through the floor of all things?”

When Kaito fell? Had he been falling just now? …He had, hadn’t he.

The events of the past few hours surged back into his mind, and Kaito gasped. “Shit, the bear!”

He looked around. A few meters away, Tojo and Iruma lied strewn about the debris, like puppets cut from their strings. The beast itself was lying farther away from the rest of them, unfortunately not dead but clearly knocked senseless by the fall. It was a small miracle that they’d managed that much, at least.

“Oh thank god.” Kaito sighed, even as the boy paled at the sight of it.

“What... is that a bear? What...?”

“No time to explain.” Kaito said, and tried to force himself to his feet, only to nearly fall over when pain spiked down his back like a bad cramp. _Ow, ow, ow, ow! _He must have pulled something when he landed. “Gh—!”

“Ah, be careful!” The boy started and went to help him, but Kaito pushed him away.

“M’fine.” It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let it. Even when their body hurt, a hero never faltered! He gritted his teeth and forced himself up through sheer force of will. “We need to get out of here soon, before that thing gets up again. Help me wake up Tojo and Iruma.”

“But you’re injured—!”

“I’m fine, help me with the others!”

As if on cue, Iruma twitched and let out an obscene-sounding moan from her spot on the floor.

“What hit me…?” She rolled over in pain. “Ugh… This can’t be a hangover; I hurt too much for that… ‘less we got up to some _really_ kinky shit last night….”

She couldn’t have been that bad off if she was cracking her usual lewd jokes. Tojo stirred from beside her, and Kaito relaxed. “And you would know all of that, how, exactly? Aren’t you underage?”

“Oh, why don’t you go bite a lemon, you killjoy…. I’m not in the mood for your sassing.” She clicked her tongue as she sat up. But anything else she meant to add was cut off at the sight of the other boy, and Iruma grinned a grin more suitable to a cat before a canary. The kid flinched back, unprepared. Kaito didn’t blame him. “Hello... and who do we have here? Where’d you come from, Cutie?”

“Ah,” He scratched his nose. “I’m—feel free to call me Kiibo. I was walking around these halls when you all came crashing down from the ceiling, and sorta got caught in the crossfire.”

“Yeah, sure looks like it,” She crooned. “That must have been quite the fright.”

“I... I guess?”

Huh... that was interesting. Kaito hadn’t noticed before, but a faint accent warped the nearly perfect pronunciation of Kiibo’s words. Judging by that and his preference to go on a first name basis straight away... was the guy a foreigner? Foreign raised?

Still though, that was neither here nor there. “Ugh, Iruma could you stop flirting for one second and focus? Unless we want to wait for that bear to wake we really should get out of here.”

“Aww but what about his face! Look at him! That big, nasty bruise looks like it hurts! Hey, tell me, would a kiss from the famous Iruma Miu make it feel better?”

The poor guy went completely red. Kaito took pity on him and cleared his throat, “More like infamous. Iruma come on, it doesn’t look _that_ bad,” He paused. Well, on second thought... “It’s not, right? I didn’t hurt you too badly when I crashed onto you, did I?”

Kiibo blinked. “No, I’m fine.”

“See? He’s completely fine!” He slapped a firm hand on Kiibo’s shoulder, earning a yelp. “Just a little mishap, that’s all! Nothing to worry about, ain’t that right Kiibo!”

“Yes, by all means,” Kiibo gasped. “Feel free to use me as your own personal landing mattress in any future amateur skydiving endeavors.”

Kaito’s face heated up instantaneously, while Iruma howled in delight.

“A cute face _and_ a sense of humor? Oh, I like you, Fluff Face!” Iruma cackled. “I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship!”

Kiibo smiled shyly, even with a fearsome blush spreading ear to ear. “I... thank you?”

“Try not to encourage her, Kiibo-san.” Tojo murmured, lifting herself off the ground with a hand to her head. “These two definitely don’t need more fuel to bicker over. You’d think that a two story fall would be enough to curb their antics, if only momentarily—” She gasped in pain and fell back as her hand went for her ankle. “Ah!”

“Woah, you okay there, Tojo?”

“Oh shit Goth Babe, you alright?”

“Ah, hold on a moment please! Try not to move too much,” Kiibo said, running over to her. Something about his own gait was a little off, Kaito noted, but he didn’t seem to have any problems crouching down next to Tojo. “May I check your leg? I have a little medical training; I might be able to help somewhat.”

She nodded, face pale.

Kaito watched as Kiibo poked and prodded at it as gently as he could. “It looks like it’s just twisted, not broken,” He finally determined with a sympathetic smile. “But it might be for the best if you don’t stand on it if you can help it until we can get you some proper care. Consider yourself very lucky. A fall like that could’ve ended much, much worse if you hit the ground at the wrong angle.”

Tojo smiled wryly. “I’ll try to keep that in mind the next time we need to fend off a demon bear. ...where is the beast, by the way?”

“No worries!” Kaito said. “That nasty fall really knocked it out, thanks to you. The bear’s lying unconscious right over... there....”

Of course it was no sooner than Kaito had spoken that he realized the bear was _moving._

_Oh no._

They all fell quiet at the sight. The bear groaned in pain and lifted its head up dizzily, looking around in confusion until its eyes fell directly onto them. Kaito’s breath hitched as it rolled onto its paws, wobbling to its feet with murderous revenge written all over its angry face—

Only for the bear to halt in place and start gagging instead, revenge forgotten.

Whether from fear or disgust, Kaito found he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the bear as it heaved like a sick dog once, then twice, then a third time. Then finally, with a full-bodied shudder it opened its mouth and spewed the contents of its stomach onto the floor in a puddle of muck. Which consisted mostly of transparent slime that didn’t look like any sort of normal bile, wooden debris, random old knick-knacks like picture frames, shoes, metal tin cans and an old tire… _and_, he was shocked to see, a small, unmoving figure. A person.

The others yelled out in surprise. The bear groaned and collapsed back onto the floor, but Kaito could care less about the monster as his mind raced. What the fuck. What the fuck! There’d been a person already in the bear’s stomach, sure, why not! This might as well happen, he thought hysterically. Was that what would’ve happened to Kaito if not for Tojo’s quick thinking?

Whoever they were, he couldn’t just leave them within arm’s reach of the bear for them to get eaten again. Despite his terror he made a beeline for the limp figure before it could react again. This close up Kaito could see it was a young man, from the looks of it, with short, dark blue hair and dark clothes, and in his mid-to-late teens just as Kaito and the others were.

Kiibo must’ve had the same idea he did, because he was running up to the mess as well to lend a hand. Kaito tried not to feel too relieved as he hooked his arms under the guy’s armpits, while Kiibo grabbed his feet. Despite his limp he didn’t seem to have any problems carrying the poor kid. It made moving his body away from the bear far easier than Kaito could’ve by himself, what with his back still smarting, and the way the cold slime made his grip slippery and unstable.

Still, he lasted long enough to bring the guy over to where Iruma and Tojo were. They watched, wide-eyed, as the guy was gently laid down nearby, and Kaito tried not to be too obvious about his back pain as he winced and sat down.

“Goddamn, is he okay?” Iruma asked.

“Looks like it.” Kiibo said before Kaito could reply, bright blue eyes checking the unconscious teen over as he did his best to wipe the gunk off of his face. “We won’t know for sure until he wakes up but he doesn’t look like he’s injured too badly, if at all.”

Luckily, he even seemed to be showing signs of stirring already. His face pinched together and his head rolled to the side as he released a faint groan, trailing off into a weak cough.

“But where did he come from? Has he been inside that bear this whole time?”

“What the hell, that’s the freakiest thing I’ve ever heard of! Poor bastard!”

“Alright, calm down, give him some space, we don’t want to overwhelm him....”

The guy grimaced. “Wuh...” He said weakly. “Where...”

“It’s okay, don’t worry, you’re safe, we’ve got you...”

He seemed relatively alright, if a bit dazed. The news that they weren’t looking at a corpse was relieving, but when Kaito glanced behind him he was horrified to see the bear shaking its head as it slowly started to sit up, still visibly dazed but getting better by the second. “Shit. Uh, guys? We really don’t have the time to wait for Mr. Mystery over here to wake up properly.” He pointed out. “That thing’s getting up again—we need to get going now before we’re all toast.” He pulled himself to his feet and tried not to let the spike of pain in his back show. “I’m the only one tall enough to support you Tojo, so you’ll have to rely on me.”

Kiibo blinked. “But, what about your ba—?”

“It’s fine.” He cut him off. “I can help easily enough. Can someone else take the kid? We have to hurry.”

“Yeah, no worries, I got him.” Iruma said. She and Kiibo both worked together to get the boy onto her back. “Eugh, Slime Boy better appreciate this later; it’s not just anybody that gets to dirty the great Miu-sama’s clothes like this.”

“Where are we going?” Tojo said as Kaito helped her to her feet. Or just the one foot, as it was.

Kaito wrapped his hand around her waist to keep her steady as she held onto his shoulder for support. “Anywhere but here. We can decide what to do later, when we’re all safe and far away from that bear.”

Something about those words made Kiibo falter with realization. “Wait. Momota-kun, before we go, there’s something you should know—”

“Not now, Kiibo, we don’t have time for that.”

“But, but the bear! It’s—you need to know; it isn’t working alo—”

He was cut off by the sound of snarling. A sound that was dark and vicious as a chainsaw and clearly otherworldly. They all froze as one. Kaito’s hair stood on edge, and he whipped around to look at the demon bear, still swaying to its feet.

But the it hadn’t been the one to make that awful, unsettling noise. Rather, it was the yellow bear standing on the other side of them at the end of the corridor, looking at them with eyes that glinted bright with bloodlust.

**T̸̢̊̅h̴̊͒e̶̱̞̋r̴̂e̷̦ ỷ̴̇͑̂́͋ȏ̴͋͋û̵̙͔͕͖̲̟͊̏̾͗̚ a̷̱͚̐̀r̸̞̉͌e̸**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to [khattikeri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/khattikeri/pseuds/khattikeri) for letting me draw inspiration from their hc of kiibo growing up in america! we'll learn more on that later, but in the meantime feel free to support them by checking out their awesome fics! especially everyone's killing reality, [a really cool v3 rewrite that will tug at your heartstrings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20878256/chapters/49626257), and their ultimate disaster squad series, a [hilarious chatfic that will have you laughing for days](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19770709/chapters/46801855)
> 
> (dont forget to check out the next chapter as well!)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the guests of honor have finally come together. They'd known they were in trouble, but they're only just now comprehending the enormity of the situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👏**THIS IS PART TWO OF A DOUBLE UPDATE!**👏 if you haven't read the previous chapter, be sure to go back and do so before this one!
> 
> can you believe I originally planned for this part take place in like the second or third chapter? little did past!me realize how massive the first part of the story would grow to become hahaha! the beginning got away from me a little i'll admit, but thats not a bad thing tbh! hopefully i can do just as much justice to the rest of the shadows :') itll be great
> 
> that said, ive been super looking forward to reaching this milestone since it was one of the first ones planned for shadows (even if its not the first one written) and am super proud of how it came out, so hold onto your seats and enjoy! its gonna be a wild ride ;)
> 
> warning for some allusions to dissociation in the midst of traumatic events

The flames of their torches cut straight through the dark as they ran through the ruins. The sound of organized yelling seemed muffled in the dead of the night, like Kaede was hearing it all from underwater.

It was an eerie sensation. The stark shadows they made of their surroundings twisted and turned as they moved, revealing all secrets hidden in the corners if only for a moment. But neither Kaede nor anyone else had eyes for any of those secrets, no matter how big or small, not when their sole focus was directed on one thing and one thing only.

“Over there, over there!”

“I think I saw it!”

“Follow the trail!”

“Keep going! Keep going!”

The hunt went on.

They’d already caught glimpses of the bear ahead of them once or twice, limping heavily before it disappeared from sight. It was obvious that its last ditch effort to escape the swords had cost it dearly, and the dead weight of its left side was worsening, hindering its movements. They could all feel their hearts lifting with the realization. With this amount of people working together it seemed that they stood a decent chance of catching and defeating the bear again. Perhaps even permanently kill it this time.

But as they ran after the beast, they failed to notice a great many number of things. Small things, easy to overlook, but no less vital nonetheless, that added up together would’ve made a great deal of difference if they’d only _known._

One, that for all that its movements seem hindered, the demon bear always remained just a hair ahead of them, fast enough to stay out of reach, but also slow enough to string them along whenever they faltered.

Two, that the sludge that it trailed down never faltered, never petered off, always constant enough to see in the low light.

Three, that for a frightened and cornered animal, it sure seemed to have a good idea of where it was going, heading up a path that was a straight shot to the top of the castle, although never too difficult for them to climb.

And four, the most dangerous of oversights... that the bear wasn’t working alone.

They were nearly at the top of the castle when the realization struck them, but it was a moment too late to do anything about it… as soon as it was pointed out, the red demon bear’s side hardened back into its original shape like nothing had ever been wrong, and they couldn’t even retreat from it, because the green demon bear following behind them swooped in to cut off their escape. The both of them moved in on the unsuspecting group as one, and after that the night went to hell.

* * *

Chaos! Chaos, all around! What lovely havoc tore through the grounds! What delicious screaming echoed up into the stars! She almost felt like dancing to the symphony.

The bears had done their jobs well, if a little overenthusiastically. In the west nearby, one group of Lights screamed and scrambled as they ran from her beasts, righteous determination turned to raw panic in the flick of a second. They were too blind to realize that the bears’ blows always landed just shy of hurting them, that they were being herded around like sheep.

From the east approached the pathetic little couple of friends, so devastated by their losses that they failed to realize that the hope they were looking had already been smashed to irreparable pieces. They had no idea that they were heading straight towards where she wanted them, with a little motivation from the beast behind to quicken their footsteps.

From her marvelous tower behind her, the last group fled through the corridors of the castle, powerless to do anything but follow the pathways she willed them to follow as her beasts nipped at their heels. Any signs of laughter were long since stripped off of their faces.

All the pieces were finally coming together. After all this time, she could finally set her plans in motion.

In the bloody silence, she waited with a pleased smirk curling her lips.

“Showtime.”

* * *

They’d been tricked.

It was a cold, stray thought that surfaced between the bubbling panic. A lone leaf crashing between choppy waves, as Kaede helplessly watched all her hopes burn to ashes from underneath Saihara-kun’s hat.

They’d been so naive. All along, they’d been walking into a trap. They’d underestimated the bear, and now were going to pay for it with their lives.

The realization was a single moment of numbing clarity as the terror blurred her senses together, overwhelming her. Their swords had snapped like twigs under the force of the bears’ claws. Fleeing did no good, as no matter where they ran there was always fangs and claws and fur right there to stop them. People screamed, people cried, people ran, hoping to find something, anything that would let them survive. The individuals she’d grown to know and care for these past few hours turned into a mix of shapes and figures that she couldn’t make sense of, streaking past her without rhyme or reason as she succumbed to her own fear. Names, dreams, desires all vanished like smoke through her fingers as she forgot everything but the most basic of survival instincts, mindlessly driving her body to run and buy herself a few more seconds of life. It was chaos, it was pandemonium, it was every man for himself.

Then someone slammed into her, and Kaede’s humanity snapped back into place as she hit the ground, raw and ragged as it was. She turned around to see tiny Yumeno-san looking back at her, fat globs of tears falling from her wide, fearful eyes. Kaede didn’t bother coming up with any words of comfort; she just snatched Yumeno’s hand with her good arm and climbed to her feet to keep running. If she could just save at least one person from her mistakes, at least one more, then...!

A large paw swung down to where they were lying mere seconds ago. The ground shook, dust went flying. Yumeno screamed as sharp, deadly claws just barely missed her.

Did she scream too? Kaede wasn’t sure. Something in her must have glitched, because the next thing she knew they were running again, although where to she wasn’t sure. Bodies and figures ran past her every which way. Screaming and buzzing and her own heartbeat twisted in her ears, nearly deafening her. The panic was seeping in again—it felt like her surroundings would turn back to shapes at any moment now, and she couldn’t let it, not before they found somewhere safe to hide—!

Her eyes fell on the castle entrance. Her heart stuttered for a moment. Kaede wasn’t sure what she hoped to find there, but surely there was something! A hiding place or some hole they could escape through, at least! “Over there!” She yelled and made a beeline up the hill towards the gates.

As people ran past her in the same direction, it struck her that they must have all had the same idea. Except... looking back, she had the chilling realization that, no, they hadn’t. Pushing them towards the gates had clearly been the bear’s plan all along, and she watched in horror as they made sure to cut any person off before they could stray too far from the group.

They were being herded. Comprehension spiked through her like a spear.

Kaede panicked. If the bears wanted them to go in there, then that was reason enough not to do so. But there was nowhere else they could go! She looked around desperately.

Well, perhaps not nowhere after all.

Up ahead there was a nearly hidden hole in the crumbling wall just small enough that two people could squeeze through. A flash of hope surged through Kaede as she made a beeline for it, straying too close for comfort to the bears. If they were just fast enough they could escape through it before they got to them—

But then two unfamiliar girls shoved their way out of the hole, faces pale with fear, and Kaede had just a moment to register Yumeno’s cry of surprise at the sight of them before something

_burst_

through the wall after them.

Stone and debris exploded all around. People screamed, Kaede included, as a pink demon bear emerged through the dust, dribble flying around with its fearsome roar.

Beyond Saihara-kun's hat, Kaede only caught one glimpse of the rows of teeth inside its mouth before she turned tail and dash off desperately in the other direction. To the other side the red and green bears closed in on them, and she had no choice but to go through the castle gates up into the courtyard.

_We’re trapped!_ She thought hysterically, amidst the stampede. _We’re trapped!_

Some of the others were desperately making their way towards the _donjon_, hoping to find some sort of safe haven within it, when a roar echoed from within. They barely had time to scramble out of the way before another group of people burst out from the old doors, fleeing the blue and yellow demon bears that cackled from behind them.

The two groups crashed into each other, and they all became a swirling mix of chaos running every which way hoping to find some means of escape as the bears joined their efforts. The sheer amount of dust kicked up made it even harder to see in the pandemonium.

In the chaos Kaede’s clammy hand slipped and it only took someone jostling her bad arm as they clipped her for her to lost track of Yumeno. She didn’t have time to even look for her again—the bears were closing in on them in hopes of corralling them, and it didn’t take a genius to realize that it would only end in a bloodbath for anyone who was caught. Kaede looked around for only a moment more before she was forced to run for her life, but with the five of those monsters working together no one stood a chance. It wasn’t long before the bears had them all surrounded against the lone courtyard fountain, teeth bared in a wretched smile, that horrid buzzing blending together in a hellish song that hurt her ears and made her physically nauseous.

She watched in despair as they closed the circle more, and more, until people were pressing against each other in fear and terror, until they were packed so tight it was hard to tell where one body ended and the other began.

And just like that it was over. Kaede knew it, the others knew it, the bears especially knew it. They’d won.

Kaede squeezed her eyes shut, trembling violently in the crowd. There was nothing to do but wait, a bloodthirsty silence befalling as the beasts descended upon them, a slaughter in the waiting....

But precious seconds passed by, and nothing happened. Kaede tentatively opened one eye just in time to see as the beasts burst out into horrible, twisted laughter. Like it was all just a joke to them.

“Wha...” Kaede looked between them, wide-eyed. “What...?” She didn’t understand... weren’t they going to kill them? What were they waiting for, what was going on?

The soft sound of flames alighting came behind her, and Kaede looked back to see the fountain lantern lit up in a unique shade of familiar blue.

“Now, now, don’t tease them.”

The voice, soft and tinkling, cut clear through the night like a bell. Kaede jumped and turned back to see a lone, shadowed figure standing on top of the stairs of the donjon, the grand tower looming behind them like a throne.

“We don’t want to scare our guests more than necessary, do we?” She said. “That would be quite rude.”

_Who... who...?_

One by one, the stone lanterns scattered around the courtyard burst into similar flames until it was entirely bathed in dramatic blue. The lighting wasn’t enough to help them see very well, but it revealed enough of the figure for Kaede to make out a young woman staring down at them from above.

“Welcome, welcome, one and all!” She said in the ensuing silence, sweeping her arms outs in a grand gesture, “To a land of magic! A land of intrigue! A land of mystique and wonder! A relic of memories past, and stories future!” She descended the stairs daintily, “That which only very few have ever laid eyes on, and fewer still have lived to tell the tale about it. This is... Hiraoka Castle!”

_Hiraoka... Peaceful Hill?_

The young woman stopped just short of reaching the bottom step at the end of her speech. The fires all around them flared up dramatically. The bears roared in triumph. Kaede could barely keep her mind straight, the way it spun around in confusion with all this new information. Everyone around her seemed to react the same way.

“Feel proud.” She went on, smiling an empty smile that didn’t reach her glowing blue eyes, ”After all, it’s not every plain ol’ day I decide to open the doors to my humble abode.”

For all intents and appearances, the young woman standing before them was a normal teenager, just like the rest of them. She had a pretty blouse and skirt combo that seemed too elegant to wear in such a desolate, abandoned place, and her cascading blue hair was pinned into a half-do that showed off the simple little orb necklace resting on her collarbones. But something about her was so off-putting that fear trickled down Kaede’s spine all the same.

It wasn’t that she looked intimidating, no. Quite the contrary in fact. Although her features could not be said to be particularly distinctive, save for her tall height, she was a fairly normal looking girl—attractive even. But there was a sort of... lacking on her that was hard to pinpoint. If Kaede had to describe it... it was that there was a certain disconnect to her, a void where her place in reality should be. The girl blended right in with their surroundings, even dressed up as she was in the middle of the woods.

Yeah, that was it. That felt right. The more Kaede thought about it, the more obvious it became. The young woman standing before them had such blankness to her that Kaede felt like her eyes might slide right off her if she wasn’t careful. More than that, her non-presence was so prevalent that Kaede had a feeling if she met her on the streets of a random city she would not be able to recognize her at all. Somehow that terrified Kaede more than anything the demon bears could ever dream of doing.

“Frights and terrors, tears and screaming,” The young lady went on with a little twirl. “I imagine you’ve all had quite the night. And such questions as well! Wait no longer, my dear guests, for I am finally here! I am the one and only Shirogane, here to welcome you to the greatest party to ever exist!”

You could have heard a pin drop.

_Party? _Kaede thought numbly. _Guests...?_ Did that mean this girl was the one responsible for kidnapping them here? “W-what do you mean, party? Why are you doing this?”

Shirogane’s eyes slid to hers, and she stiffened. “Well, Akamatsu Kaede-chan—”

_My name, that’s my name, how does she know my name?_

“—I’m so glad you asked! it’s quite the story you see. Me and my beautiful monobeasts,” She gestured to the tittering monster bears all around them, “had a dream, once upon a time. And that dream was to live in a certain little castle town you see standing before you. I wished, and wished, and wished upon many stars that my dream would come true with all of my heart! And then, wouldn’t you know it, it finally did! Oh, it was all I could have ever wanted, save for one thing. With nothing and no-one to help entertain us, we’ve grown very, very, _very_ bored ever since, living in this grandiose space. All this room and nothing to do with it! Oh, what a conundrum! Why, we were so lonely we were almost driven to tears!”

The bears groaned, exaggeratingly sad.

“And then I had an idea. It was a good idea, a great one even. It was so ingenious, that there was no way I couldn’t go through with it! It was truly inspired!” She laughed, “Yes, I decided... that we would throw a housewarming party, to celebrate our moving in! What a grand way to put the grounds to use, don’t you agree? I was so excited to plan it, but of course we couldn’t just have a party without some guests to attend. So we went to the effort of finding some new friends to bring into the mix, and henceforth came... _you.”_

A ripple of shock spread through the crowd. Kaede sucked in a sharp breath.

“So then, does that mean,” Someone called out from between the crowd. It was Yumeno, Kaede vaguely recognized. “That you took us from our homes just for the sake of some crummy little party?”

“Oh this is not just any run-of-the-mill party, I assure you!” Shirogane beamed. “It’ll be unlike anything you’ll have ever seen before, or will see ever since! We have quite the variety of events planned! Games and tournaments—loads of party stuff like that. I even have some special prizes for the winners! Doesn’t that sound exciting? I made extra sure to pick out things that I know you’ll love!”

“...What sort of things?” Ryouma spoke up.

“Oh... This and that,” Shirogane smiled demurely. “There’s no need for you to know quite yet. It would spoil the fun after all, and we can’t be having that!”

“Fun? Like chasing us around and threatening our lives is fun?” Another guy growled. Kaede didn’t recognize him either, “With all due respect, fuck off lady! We don’t want no part in your twisted games!”

The crowd tittered with approval. “Yeah, we didn’t ever consent to something like this!” Someone else that Kaede didn’t recognize called out.

“Let us out of here!”

“I want to leave!”

“What you’re doing is cruel and twisted, lady!”

“Oh... I see, I see. So is that how everyone feels about my party?” She tapped a thoughtful finger on her chin. “Well that’s a plain ol’ shame. I’d hate to be a bad host after all. Worry not however—there seems to be a slight misunderstanding!”

She snapped her fingers.

A vortex of blue fire burst into existence in the steps between Shirogane and the crowd, growing taller than the bears themselves. While she stood unaffected by the flames, people screamed and backed away at once, but not before the fire spread out to the sides to create a wall of searing heat.

“You see,” Shirogane went on, glasses glinting against the light. Her voice remained terrifyingly even, but still heard above the roar of the fire. “You seem to be of the idea that my invitation is the sort that can be rejected. Oh my, what a faux pas! You’d be wrong, my dearies. You’re all here to have a party, nothing more, nothing less! Anyone who insists on wasting my time with their stubborn pig-headedness... well, it’s sad, but then I guess I have no further use for them. Luckily, you can still make up for it by becoming a yummy snack for my beasties! Would you prefer to be grilled, or sliced up and served raw?”

The bears perked up with slobbery snarls.

“Shit!” Someone swore, as the fire slowly started to spread towards them, lashing wildly as if restrained. “Y-you...! You’re fucked up, lady—!”

“Oh you haven’t even seen the half of it.” Shirogane purred. “You _refuse?_ You want to go home _now?_” She mocked. “Why? You’re not getting out of this one! Not when the party hasn’t even started proper!”

She snapped her fingers again. It was all the warning they had before suddenly fire sprang up from another pillar in between the crowd, burning far too close to Kaede and a few others for it to be safe. They shrieked and scrambled away, eyes watering from the sheer _heat._

“We’ll have loads of fun, you’ll see,” Her voice turned hard and gleeful. “What my monobeasts put you through was just a preview!”

More pillars were starting to jump up quick as a flash between the crowd unbidden, threatening severe burns to anyone too slow to move out of the way. With no clear pattern as to the way they were forming, people were already shoving at each other in a panic—it was turning back into the same mindless havoc as before. The bears didn’t bother herding them back into place as they coldly watched them run around.

“Don’t be such babies! What’s a party without some screaming! What’s a little despair compared to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” Shirogane laughed, an edge of inhumanity seeping into her voice. “No, I can’t have you missing all of that! That would make a poor host out of me, indeed!”

Kaede didn’t even realize she was running until she slammed full-speed into someone else. She collapsed back into the ground and was instantly scrambling back to her feet, but not before freezing at the sight of the people that she’d knocked over. A busty blonde girl, a white-haired guy, and a familiar figure covered in slime, staring wide-eyed at her just as she was him.

_Saihara-kun...?_

“Cry and yell as much as you like. It’s not like it matters to me, after all! It won’t change a thing! No one can hear you in these woods! No one’s coming to save you!”

They were all fleeing through the castle grounds now, flying past the broken walls of the great fortress as the blue fire raced out further and further through the ruins, consuming all wood and wildlife in its path, save for anything that blocked their escape. Although collapsing trees and crumbling buildings flew past Kaede’s eyes, she could see nothing but the last glimpse she’d gotten from that hellish figure, smiling at them all behind ghoulish blue flames as they fled.

“Do you see now? Do you understand the positions you’re all in?” Shirogane’s mad voice boomed all around them. “By the next rising of the moon, so too will the games begin, and no matter how far you run or where you hide there’s not a thing you can do to stop it! ”

All around them the castle _burned._ Dark smoke blotted out the stars and moon. The sheer amount of heat radiating from around them stripped all sweat off their bodies, made their eyes water and lungs ache, but the blind panic was more than enough incentive to keep them running. It was only at the threshold of the dry moat that the flames cut off, but even then they neither stopped nor slowed down. How could they, when that horrid woman’s words still echoed in their ears, as haunting as a bell?

“So relax, o’ dearly beloved guests! Feel free to rest, and enjoy the scenery! Food? Accommodations? No need to worry about any of that! By my grace you’ve all been brought here and so by my grace you shall be taken care of. But only if you’re well-behaved. Otherwise...”

By the time they reached their small campsite, it was small no longer. Rows and rows of tents and piles of boxes were spread across the area, stored with tables and chairs and all sorts of useful items and tools that Kaede _knew_ couldn’t have been in any part of the ruins whatsoever.

What was more shocking however, was the small figure lying face down in the middle of it all, completely still and unresponsive.

“You may very well end up worse than little Ouma-kun over there, and that would be a shame. Do be a dear and make sure to look after him for me, won’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the first night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my lovely readers. long time no see! last time i updated current events werent as wild as they are atm—i hope yall are doing well, making the most of whatever circumstances you might find urselves in rn and staying safe as best as you can. 
> 
> because of where i left off, i feel the need to remind ppl that this is a story that will remain generally dark, in spite of a few bright spots here and there. the helplessness written here might resonate with RL situations so if you feel like you're not in the sort of proper mental space to safely read it pls feel free to save it for another time. that goes for future chapters as well. fanfic is meant to be a fun escape, and its more important to me that yall take care of urselves before enjoying my content ❤️
> 
> this chapter's a lil short, but i hope you enjoy!
> 
> warning for:
> 
>   * dissociation at the start of the chapter. to avoid skip from the beginning to "She remained there on the log for a while longer"
>   * general shell shock depicted among characters bc of previous chapter events
>   * discussion of injuries

It was the first vivid rays of twilight peeking through the tree canopy that cut through the foggy haze weighing down on Kaede’s mind, slowly bringing her back to reality’s surface.

She lifted her head, every movement sluggish and heavy, and found herself sitting on a fallen old log in the middle of camp. The angle brought light beaming past the cap resting on her head, much to her regret. A lance of pain bloomed from behind her tired eyes, and she shrunk away from it even as it anchored her further to the present.

Surrounded by broken down ruins and people she didn’t know, it took a moment to remember how she’d gotten there. Kaede couldn’t quite place how she’d ended up on that particular spot, sitting on that old log. Her body felt floaty and disconnected, in a way that made it hard to anchor herself to reality should she be careless. Her throbbing arm, her aching lungs, her trembling muscles were all more of suggestion more than a sensation, something to leave for some future version of herself to deal with. And the events of last night had melded together almost incomprehensibly in her mind, a concoction of fear that left a sour taste in her mouth as she recalled—a sneering bear holding Saihara-kun up as its jaw extended; bright blue eyes glinting menacingly at her from behind round glasses; fleeing desperately from the castle grounds as it grew rapidly engulfed by racing blue fire—

She didn’t think she’d slept. She didn’t think anyone had slept after the night they’d been through. She was vaguely aware of some of other kids stretched out across through the camp, clearly trying to make sense of last night. Some of them were sifting listlessly through the boxes, barely even conscious of doing so; some of them sat where they could, pale and visibly shell-shocked; some of them had even broken down crying in a corner or two—but they all shared the same hollow look of numbness that Kaede felt engraved into her bones. All because of one horrifying night, full of fear and near-death experiences, and the knowledge that more were to come.

_Did that really happen last night? Was this real?_

It was all Kaede could do to sit there in the brittle silence and focus on her breathing, feeling so faint that she might slip back into the fogginess at any moment if she wasn’t careful. She didn’t have the mental strength to do anything else. The quiet engulfing her was too big to breach with music, if she’d had the wits to think of any melodies. The coming dawn was lovely and picturesque, but she couldn’t even muster a drop of gladness for it. After what she’d gone through—after what they’d all gone through just a few hours ago, she didn’t feel like the morning merited pretty.

She remained there on the log for a while longer, as the dawn turned everything a twilight blue, birds and crickets chirping from the distant forest. She focused on breathing through the crisp morning air, though the monotony of everyone’s collective sorrow kept the camp dull and stagnant.

At last, a change. A tall guy with purple hair and a goatee emerged from some of the tents. He seemed to be searching for something as he moved around quietly, methodically checking every part of the camp. Although the guy was careful not to bother people or break the somber air lingering around as he searched, in her eyes he still stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of them. He moved with the same sort of exhaustion weighing down Kaede’s shoulders, with an awkward limp that meant that some injury was paining him, but somehow there was a spark in him that made him seem more colorful than any of the other kids around them. Kaede didn’t react when he finally looked up and met her eyes, momentarily balking. She didn’t react either when he squared his shoulders and walked over in her direction. Kaede simply kept her dead gaze straight on him, unflinching even as he came to a halt right in front of her.

“Hey,” The guy uttered softly. “Are you Akamatsu?”

Kaede said nothing.

The guy frowned and waved a hand in front of her face. “Hey, can you hear me? Are you Akamatsu?”

Kaede twitched, but resisted the urge to bat his hand away. “...What do you want.” She said instead, dehydration making her throat sound like she’d torn it up in a blender.

“Ah, sorry.” His hand fell away, but he kept his tone low and gentle. "No need to bite my head off, okay? I’m not here to hurt you or anything, I was just sent to find you on behalf of some other kid who wants to talk to you. Do you mind coming with me?"

In any other situation Kaede might have found it in herself to be more suspicious of his motives—after all, he was a stranger to her, asking for a favor that seemed vaguely shady in these circumstances. But all the real danger had so far only come from the demon bears and that scary girl, rather than the other ‘guests’, and the guy before her almost radiated a warmth that felt trustworthy. Kaede must not have been as numb as she thought, because something inside her flared up at the feeling, like calling to like, so she let him pull her to her feet and followed after him silently, cautious but curious all the same.

The guy ended up leading her to a large tarp she had never seen before, taller than any other individual tent, and thrice as long. It was a uniform dark green, boxed in all around save for the little rows of window flaps rolled up to let in light, and a large flap for the entrance tied up on the far left side of the tent. She didn’t have much time to wonder what the purpose of the tent was before the guy led her inside, and her breath caught.

“It’s... a medical tent?” She murmured, taking her hat off for a better look.

Goatee Guy rubbed the back of his head. “It’s not much, but me and some other people found a few boxes with first aid equipment and we thought it might be a good idea to set up a makeshift clinic for the injured.” His voice dropped into a whisper. “You know. Just in case.”

A spike of feeling disturbed Kaede’s numbness for a moment. The amount of effort already put into the tent was impressive. It was very bare still, but they’d clearly put a lot of thought into how to best fill up the space inside. Boxes of materials had all been stacked up near the entrance, presumably full of the type of supplies a medical tent would need. A couple of fold up chairs and a table had been set up beside them, with some lanterns and pen and paper placed on top for easy access. Beyond that they’d laid down a heavy plastic tarp down on the rest of the floor so that rows of futons were available for anyone who might need them. Already there were a few people occupying the beds.

The first closest to them was a gothic young woman who was wincing as a white-haired guy poked and prodded at her leg. On the bed next to them, a tiny girl—her size, red hair and sticky clothes giving her away as Yumeno-san—sat desolately, curled as tightly into a ball as she could with her face buried in her knees, while a sad Gonta-kun sat quietly with her for company. There was an empty, ruffled futon after that, the owner having obviously climbed out to watch over the person lying prone on the bed after them, sitting seiza-style with their back to the entrance—

Kaede’s mouth went dry at the sight of their dark blue hair and slim shoulders, recognizable even with the drying, sticky clothes.

The sheer shock whipped the rest of the foggy numbness away, even as Kaede’s vision narrowed to that single moment. If Goatee Guy said anything else to her, Kaede didn’t notice. Her heartbeat picked up, and her legs moved without her permission, calmer and steadier than she could’ve ever managed with conscious input. They lead her straight up to that familiar silhouette, and when she got close enough she watched in slow motion as it turned around to reveal a tired face and pale eyes that were blurrier than she remembered—

Oh. Because she was crying.

“Kaede.” Saihara-kun said, and held an arm out to hold her as she climbed down to join him on the mat. Kaede was careful not to jostle her bad arm as she settled into his embrace, placing her forehead against the crook of his shoulder, a light breeze away from breaking down on the spot.

It took all of her strength for Kaede to gasp out, “I’m sorry,” hoping that she managed to encompass all that she meant with it. Sorry that they and so many others had been unwillingly brought into such a terrible situation, sorry that she was so useless to the investigation, sorry that her curiosity had almost been the death of them both. She hadn’t even managed to grant Saihara-kun the dignity of a proper rescue like she wanted to—her actions had only resulted in putting even more people in danger, and suffer the humiliation of foolishly running into him by accident as they were all fleeing for their lives. It was a miracle that things hadn’t gone more awry. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so sorry.”

Saihara shrugged as light as he could. “It’s okay,” He said against her hair, “It’s not your fault. You did the best you could.” And it was clear by the tone of his voice that he believed that.

Kaede shook her head, but her throat was too tight to manage anything coherent, so she settled for burying her face in his shoulder and taking big, gulping breaths. She was sure that at any moment now she would start bawling like a baby, but though fat globs of tears rolled down her face, she squeezed it all down without breaking until the moment passed and she started calming down. Saihara-kun bore through it all with patience, steadfastly murmuring soft sympathies and rubbing her back, and eventually he gave her enough strength to pull away and look him in the eyes once more.

“...I’m sorry.” She said, rubbing at the itchy, swollen skin beneath her eyes. “You’re the one who got eaten, and here I am making you comfort me.”

“No one’s _making_ me comfort you.” He said sadly. “Friends don’t keep track of how many times they help each other. I can and I want to, that’s all there is to it.”

“Still.” She sniffed. “I’m so glad to see you back. What are you doing here? Are you okay? Are you hurt or anything?”

Saihara-kun winced. “Don’t worry about me, I’m mostly fine. The others just thought it’d be a good idea for me to take it easy a little after... you know... getting swallowed and thrown up by a demon bear.”

“So you’re not injured?”

“Just really sore,” Saihara-kun assured her. “The, um, the bear, it squeezed me really hard, you saw that, it bruised a couple of ribs. I’m a little more worried about Amami, he was really in a bad way when Gonta-kun brought him in.”

It was only then that Kaede noticed that the person on the futon he’d been watching over was indeed Amami-kun, face drawn pale and scrunched up in discomfort as he slept.

“Amami-kun...?” A pang of guilt made her throat clench. She’d been so busy worrying yesterday about Saihara-kun in danger that she’d thought they could worry about Amami’s injuries later. A poor oversight on her part. “Oh no... is he okay?”

It looked like someone had taken the time to look over his wounds. They’d carefully wrapped his head and shoulder in bandages—possibly even other parts of his body as well, though she couldn’t see them under the blankets. The blood and dirt muddying his face had been cleaned up too, leaving only the dried stains on his clothes and a few fresh stains surfacing from the wrapping on his head as evidence. Kaede felt more tears well up at the broken sight he made.

“Oh, Kaede, don’t cry.” Saihara-kun said. “He’ll... he’ll be okay, eventually. It’s nothing he can’t recover from, don’t worry.”

“He hit his head pretty badly.” She said, taking deep, gulping breaths. “Isn’t it dangerous to sleep with a concussion? Shouldn’t we keep him awake instead?”

“Ah, that’s a bit of a public misconception. Head wounds need rest to recover just like any other injury.” He said gently. “Maybe even more so because it’s the brain that’s healing. So sleeping is okay as long as we make sure to wake him up every couple of hours to check on him.”

_What happens if he doesn’t wake up_, Kaede didn’t ask, nodding meekly instead. “The bear really did a number on him, huh.” She sighed, reaching out to brush a strand of hair off his face. “I shouldn’t have dragged him along with us to find the bear, that was clearly too dangerous. I should’ve made him stay behind.”

“Maybe.” Saihara-kun bit his lip. “Maybe it would have been better for his injuries. Or maybe it would have made things worse. Shirogane seemed determine to get her bears to bring us all together, one way or another. You can’t dwell on what-ifs, Kae—Akamatsu-san.”

“I know.” She sniffed. “Things were happening so quickly—I just wish I’d taken him more into consideration. I owe him an apology for that.”

“Well, you can always do that later when he’s awake. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you; he was asking after you earlier, and he seemed pretty worried.”

In some ways it made the guilt sink deeper into her bones, but Kaede drew warmth from it all the same. “I think I will, thank you.” She mustered a small smile. “You know, you can call me Kaede if you want.”

Saihara stiffened. “What, really? Are—are you sure?”

“Yeah. After all that’s happened, I think we’ve grown more than close enough for you to use my first name.”

He hesitated for a moment. “O... o-okay. But only if you call me Shuichi too.”

“Shuichi-kun, huh? It’s a deal,” She agreed, and pushed the cap in her good hand to him. “Here. You should have this back too.”

Shuichi's eyes widened. “You... kept this all this time?”

Kaede lowered her gaze, inexplicably embarrassed. “I-I know it’s just a hat, and in the grand scheme of things it’s really not that important but I just. Really wanted make sure you got this back when you were safe so I took it with me when we went after the bear and—I finally found you so, here you go.”

Shuichi stared at that hat for a long moment. “No.”

“Huh?”

Shuichi-kun immediately turned red. “I-I mean,” He gently pushed it back to her. “Um, technically, I’m not safe yet. None of us will be completely safe unless we escape this place, so...” He looked her in the eye. “I... I want you to keep it for me until we get out of here. Then you can give it back, okay? But only until then.”

Kaede could barely speak for the knot of emotions welling up inside her. He’d just asked for a bigger promise than returning a hat and they both knew it. “Okay...” She put it back on her head and looked up at him. “Just until we all get out of here....”

He smiled weakly at her.

“Um, excuse me,” A voice called out, and Kaede looked back to see the same white-haired guy as before walking up to them. He was unfamiliar to her, but she thought she remembered catching a glimpse or two of him in the mayhem of last night. “Hello there. You must be Saihara-kun’s friend Akamatsu-san, right? The girl Momota-kun went outside looking for?”

Momota must be the guy that had guided her here. Kaede nodded, but Shuichi-kun must’ve noted something in his tone because he winced a little and said, “I’m really sorry Kiibo-kun, I didn’t think he would volunteer to look for Kaede-san when I told him about her. I told him he should rest but he didn’t want to listen.”

Oh wait, that’s right, he’d been limping when he found her. Kaede felt a smidge of guilt at the thought that he’d gone so out of his way while injured for Shuichi and her.

Kiibo waved a hand, settling down on his knees to talk to them face to face. “It’s fine, you’re not responsible for his decision to aggravate his back. The next time that idiot tries anything I’ll just sicc Gonta-kun on him. But that’s neither here nor there. I am glad that he brought you back, Akamatsu-san. I wanted to talk to you.” He gestured to her arm, “I noticed your sling earlier when you came in, and I wanted to ask if you would like me to check over your arm while you’re here? If I hadn’t been busy with Tojo-san’s ankle I would have offered sooner, but I'm free to do so now.”

“Kiibo’s part of the group that saved me from the demon bear.” Shuichi-kun explained, which drew a pensive frown from Kaede before he added, “He helped move all the injured in here and came up with the idea to use it as a designated medical tent. He’s been very nice so far, helping me with my—with my ah, ribs, and checking Amami-kun over for his injuries. You can trust him.”

“It’s not much,” Kiibo admitted. “There’s only so much I can do without the training or advanced medical supplies, but I’m the closest thing we’ll get to a doctor until we’re rescued so I’ll try my best.”

He had a very open, very friendly look about him, despite the wrinkled old scarring that ran down in messy, crisscrossing lines down the left side of his face, all the way from behind his bangs to down to the corner of his mouth. He seemed trustworthy, so she happily nodded and let him gently slide her arm out of the sling, noting the good care it had been given already.

Like Chabashira-san had told her, he determined that what she had was most likely a twisted elbow, and that it was best to keep her arm as immobile as possible. Besides that, the only other injury she sported was a few mild burns from running from the fire. Kiibo-kun rummaged around the boxes and gave her some supplies—a better sling to support her arm, along with an ice compress that felt like heaven on her swollen skin. Kaede briefly considered the painkillers offered with a longing look, but in the end had to refuse them, unsure of whether they might need them for more drastic scenarios. But she was more than happy to take the sorely needed water bottles they had available, taking slow sips as encouraged so as to not grow sick.

“Thank you Kiibo-kun.” She said, when he capped the bottle for her. “What you guys have managed so far... it’s really amazing.”

“I just wish we could do more under the circumstances.” Kiibo sighed. “Bandages and disinfectant can only help so much when you’ve got a twisted ankle or a concussion to deal with. And whatever Shirogane may hide behind the guise of ‘party games’, I suspect there may be more dangerous challenges to come. I don’t doubt she’s capable of worse.”

His eyes wandered past Amami-kun’s futon, and Kaede followed his gaze to see that he was staring at the last occupant in the tent, a pale, dark-haired boy lying so small and still in his bed that he almost seemed lifeless at first glance, like a doll or a replica.

He was the boy they’d found dumped carelessly amongst the expanded campsite, she realized after a few seconds. The one Shirogane had called Ouma-kun. Her mouth went dry. Kaede hadn’t even spared a thought to what had happened to the poor kid afterwards, swallowed up as she had been by her shock and horror. “What... what happened to him?”

“We don’t know.” Kiibo-kun said. “He hasn’t woken up since we found him.”

“But... why would she single him out in this way?” Kaede wracked her brains for the memories of last night. They were extremely blurry and mixed up in panic, but she was almost sure she hadn’t seen him amongst any of the groups of teens running around. “I don’t think he was with any of the split groups before we found him, unless they got separated before last night. Did anybody recognize him?”

“No, not when we brought him in.” Kiibo said. “But then he was one of the first of the injured in this tent, so we can’t be completely sure yet.” But by his tone of voice, he seemed certain that no group would claim him.

“I think Shirogane-san left him for us as a message.” Shuichi said, voice soft as if he was afraid to disturb the boy they were talking about. “Her parting words... she said something about him misbehaving. That... we wouldn’t want to end up like him.”

“’Do as I say or I’ll punish you like I did him.’” Kiibo paraphrased.

That sent a chill up Kaede’s spine. “What did she _do_ to him?”

“We don’t know.” Kiibo said wearily. “I checked him over as best I could and he seems to be fine, physically. No fever, no injuries, not even so much as a little scratch. He’s completely untouched as far as I can tell, but it doesn’t make any sense. All I know is Shirogane left him in our care, and no matter what I do he’s not waking up. There’s nothing there that might explain the state of him.”

“Well...” Shuichi hesitated. “There's nothing _logical_ that might explain it, but....”

They all fell silent, unsure of what to say in the face of that. Kaede would have brushed off Shuichi’s theories as impossible, but that was before she’d spent a night chasing ghost lights and running from demonic monster bears, before they’d been unexplainably kidnapped and brought to old castle ruins without even knowing how they’d gotten there. They’d all witnessed that horrifying lady conjure blue fire, far beyond anything that tricks and special effects could do.

Maybe this Ouma-kun would wake up eventually, maybe not. They’d all just have to wait and see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are very much appreciated ;V


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